give it a shot
by fxrefliess
Summary: "how do you take the perfect shot?" / "precision." AKA an au were an oblivious, love struck zane and cole talk in a bar abt how to take a perfect shot ( photographer & sniper au ).
1. not me

"gimme the strongest thing you've got."

zane's head quirked up at the sound of the bar's doorbell popping open; a man in all black, scruffy clothing with shoulder cut dark hair walked in.

"it's been one hell'of a day," the man finished as he sat down on the stool with a sigh.

"comin' right up," the bartender answered, immediately reaching for a mixer to begin preparing the drink.

zane couldn't help but peek over two stools to his left at the newcomer. something made zane think he was familiar; perhaps they've seen each other in the bar before. apparently the man noticed his gaze however, because the noirette looked back.

"hi." zane was surprised at how high his voice pitched.

"'sup?"

". . . you come here often?"

that was a dumb question, but it cracked a grin out of the man in all black so zane was pleased.

"only when i finish taking a few shots," the other man answered, giving a nod to the bartender once his drink was placed in front of him; the bartender went back to watching the tv. "it's uh—my job, i mean."

"oh, of course. i take shots for a living, as well," zane replied, turning to the side to speak better; his feet twisted on the stool's legs.

he could feel the noirette's eyes scanning over him in doubt. "you do?"

"indeed. do you know how to get the perfect shot?"

the man raised an eyebrow at zane's attempt to start a real, in-depth conversation. "precision," he answered simply aftera pause, taking a big sip.

"correct," zane said, smiling. "and aim is key."

"yeah, guess you're right."

"i am zane, by the way."

"cole . . . and don't you think it's weird to give your name out to strangers at a bar like this, though?"

zane took a sip of his own drink, a grin masked on his lips. "did you not just answer with your own name?"

"hm. touché."

zane tapped the bar edge proudly. "anyway, cole, as i was saying: aim is key. it can make or break."

"literally."

"what?"

"what?"

"i just—

"

"im fucking with you, man," cole joked, snorting a laugh.

"oh."

"i see you don't take humor all that well."

"i have been quite clumsy during a shots in the past before," zane admitted sheepishly. "i broke stuff. literally."

"oh—"

"do not fret," cooed zane, "everyone made it out ok."

"oh . . ."

"is something of the matter?"

"nah, no—i was just . . . never mind."

zane wanted to question cole's sudden change in behavior, but shrugged it off; perhaps alcohol took its toll fairly quickly on the other.

"what's with the get-up?"

"pardon?"

"your clothing," cole rephrased. "why so . . . yknow, like open and out there?"

zane took a gentle sip of his drink before peering down at his white skinny jeans and loose gray sweater. "it's fashion."

cole snorted another laugh, eyes rolling. "oh, geez."

"i could honestly ask you the same question."

"i just like black," answered cole with a shrug. "and it . . . fits better with my surroundings."

"ah . . . i understand. dark landscapes make quite the shot."

"yep, yeah they do, buddy."

a moment of silence passed before zane thought of a new question. perhaps he was enjoying the conversation and didn't want to let it die out so soon. perhaps he enjoyed seeing cole's hiden smile after some snarky comment. "who was your last gig for?"

"i'd rather keep that to myself," cole muttered, drawing small circles with his thumb in the bar counter.

"i can respect your privacy."

"cool."

"my last shot was for the garmadons."

zane watched cole actually spit up some of his drink with a gag. "for who?!"

". . . the garmadons?"

"damn, i didn't pin those rich bastards as the type to hire someone like us."

"they can not take their own shots, cole."

"well duh, that'd be sui—"

the static of the bar tv flowed into the room. cole grunted in dissatisfaction; zane quirked up curiously to peek behind the bar as the barista worked to change the channel. the news flickered on with the push of a few remote buttons.

zane turned back to the noirette. "what were you saying?"

"it's no biggie, man. 'm sure you know what i mean anyways."

"alright, i will take your word for it."

". . . alrighty."

"what about equipment?"

"why do you ask so many questions?"

"i . . ." zane wandered off. "why do you give so little answers?"

cole smirked. "being mysterious is fun."

"why?"

"it's . . . easier not to let people get close, i guess. you live and you learn, and you move on."

"it sounds like you've learned from experience."

"that's because i have," cole deadpanned.

zane's features saddened. "i am sorry."

"it's fine, you didnt know. but continue, anyways. no one ever seemed so interested in what i do as much as you. it's nice to feel appreciated."

zane thought he saw the lasting remittances of a smile on cole's lips before the blond repeated his question. "what equipment do you use?"

"mmhm . . . that's also classified actually."

"and why's that?"

"cuz then i'd give away my secrets," cole replied, grinning.

"i have a canon eos 5d mark IV for quick gigs."

"a what?" cole asked quickly, confusion laced in his voice.

"you know, quick in-and-out shots, i can't set up a whole—"

"why would you—"

"my camera stand, cole."

"i . . ."

zane's head tilted to the side. "perhaps i said something bad?"

"no, i just . . ." the noirette's voice faded out. he turned away. "turn that up!" cole ignored the blond, pointing to the tv.

the bartender grunted, but complied nonetheless, clicking the volume up a few notches. bar chatter hushed down and the lady on the news continued to ramble.

"—you can see, he is armed and dangerous. we finally acquired a photo of the man's face: black hair, dark eyes, tanned skin and a tall build with—"

zane froze. an image of a man's newly familiar features flashed on the screen.

"—right here in the city. police cameras have found him running southbound, but lost track just around the local pub—"

zane's eyes flickered to cole's for a reaction. surely the woman on the news wasn't saying what the blond thought this meant.

"—authorities claim everyone within a five block radius should keep their eyes opened. if you see something suspicious or have information regarding this man, please tell your local deputy immediately."

she paused, looking right at the camera with what zane could only sense would be pain in her eyes. a quick few blinks washed it away before continuing.

"more information can be found on our website. this man is a threat, and we need to make him stop committing crimes before it escalates again. im gale gossip and—"

the tv shut into static, glass shattering on the floor. zane jumped at the impact; someone had thrown a beer bottle across the room.

but his eyes were focused on cole's horrified features. the noirette jumped up from his chair and spun around, heading to the door.

"i gotta go."

and that was when zane realized the two of them were never even talking about the same type of shot.

—

**author's notes:**

**so, this is a wip but i do have a lot more written out w possible ideas for the future. if u guys liked it or r interested in the direction i think i wanna take this story, lemme know n ill work up the next chapt!**

**it's based off of the writing prompt of_ "a sniper and a photographer meet in a bar. neither are aware of the other's occupation. they talk about 'how to take the perfect shot'."_**


	2. i'm in

another beer bottle smacked into the wall near zane's head suddenly, causing the blond to flinch back to the ground. his head swung to the direction the bottle came from, watching a man rise from the back of the bar.

"the hell was that?" he boomed out, the new voice filling the shocked room.

"i didnt—"

"bullshit, 'you didnt'!" the man from the back of the bar continued mockingly, standing up from his seat and making his way forward. he wore a bright red jacket with a brown mop of hair on his head, already reaching for a third bottle to throw. "that was your face on the tv!"

"i was framed, jackass," cole answered in a low tone, looking down. his hand paused midair while reaching for the doorknob out of fear.

"who would wanna frame some low class level scum like you? you even got anything left to lose, dirty boy?"

cole's brows furrowed, and anyone could tell he was trying so hard to keep it together. "not anymore, i don't," he mimicked, arms flailing back down at his side.

zane saw the punch coming, but by then it was too late. cole had been socked right in the nose, stumbling back against a bar table on impact with a groan. nearby people jumped back for shelter, some slipping out the door. zane simply watched, eyes darting from the dark boy, to the fierce one in red.

cole was a killer?

someone else jumped up in shock from the start of a fight, blue shirt clinging to his smaller frame. "kai!" he yelled, pushing back stray strands of his gingered hair with a breath.

the person in red spun around immediately at the name, and zane could only guess he was the one being addressed. however, that moment of free hesitation from the brunet sparked the opportunity cole was waiting for to backfire.

after taking a moment to regain his balance, the previously punched man jumped forward and tackled kai to the ground. a table crashed under the pair, yelps and screams following shortly after from the other leftover members within the bar.

zane heard a 'get the hell'off me!' echo throughout the building before unfroze and ran into action, pulling cole off the brunet before either managed to throw another fist.

the ginger who sprung up from the back ran to kai's side as well. the blond could only guess they knew each other very well.

zane held onto cole's bicep to keep him from running back, other hand up as if to block kai from coming closer in defense; the noirette meanwhile held his nose, a groan escaping his chapped lips every now and then. the whole bar seemed to freeze, as if waiting for someone else to move. zane opened his mouth when someone else spoke up.

"get the fuck out of my bar before i call the cops on all four of you."

kai squinted, scoffing at cole, before inevitable walking out, hand in hand with the ginger in blue. "let's go, jay," mumbled the brunet in red, kicking the door open from the bottom and leaning out. "these dickwads aren't worth our time."

as he turned to leave, zane noticed the familiar symbolic pattern of two katanas crossed over each other on the red jacket; it was most likely a bad sign, as that was the trademark of what zane labeled as 'trouble'. the grin on the brunet's face as he left was extremely prominent. it almost frightened zane on what kai could possibly do next.

zane and cole turned back to the establishment owner, who was now leaning heavily on the bar with deep breaths. he waved a hand through the air, cutting harshly as if telling the pair to scoot out already. he was obviously pissed; a red furious color on his face.

"my apologies, sir, we—"

"look here, pretty boy," the owner interrupted zane, "get the hell out right now, or else i'll be the one slamming your boyfriend over here in the fucking face."

zane was still sheepishly holding cole's arm, he realized, and immediately left go as if it would clear up the confusion. "he is not my—"

the owner continued to lean forward, breath smelling of thick liquor and drugs. "i don't care who he is. leave."

cole took a step back with a nod, bringing zane with him as well, before quickly pushing the door open with his body and scurrying out immediately without another word.

the cool midnight air hit zane like a brick wall.

well, it was either the air, or a fist.

he yelled anyway.

dropping to the dirty, polluted ground, zane felt hands grab at his shoulders to try and keep him upright.

"what the fuck is your problem?" screamed cole, continuing to pull zane back up into a standing position. "he didn't even do anything! neither did i, damn it!"

"i don't give a fuck."

blinking back the pain, zane's eyes opened to see the familiar red jacket in front of him once more. he could only assume after the two other boys left the bar, they simply stood waiting outside for round two. and now zane was the one receiving the punches.

"they're on their way," the one in blue, jay, mumbled, a smile a bit too bubbly for the situation currently scribbled onto his face.

"good," was kai's simple response, glancing down at his fist satisfactorily. the brunet shined his knuckles against his shirt, whatever leftover blood wiping off onto the matching crimson colored jacket.

"what?" cole pipped up, as zane was still dialing down into his senses. "who?"

zane did not hear an answer. all he saw in response was that classic smirk from earlier, sprawled across kai's face. next thing the boy knew, sirens blared within the distance. zane glanced back at cole in worry.

the cops.

it was the police.

eyes drawing into the phone clenched with in jay's hands, zane piece the two together and sighed heavily. "why would you do such a thing?" the blond questioned, sure it would be ignored anyway.

"i dunno, lemme think," kai began, mockery twisted into his words. it seemed as if he was enjoying this. "someone's a wanted dangerous criminal? and i'm not supposed to call them in? bullshit, blondie."

"i did not do it. that wanted poster? . . it shouldn't be about me."

zane peered back at cole once more as the other man spoke, watching the saddened emotions flicker across his face. zane did not know what to think, but the calm, sympathetic side told him getting beat up in a bar was wrong, no matter who anyone was.

"then who the fuck did, huh?" kai asked, facing the blank expressions of zane and cole.

what was the blond even supposed to say? he was not sure who to believe, or if any answer would result in another punch. of course he heard about the killing from yesterday—everyone did; a woman, early 40s maybe, was killed in her own home while the other occupants were out. the body was discovered this morning.

so a rushed moment of silence washed over the four men, as jay tapped kai's arm antsily. "we should go," the ginger spoke up, turning around to stare down the road; probably to where the law was closing in from.

zane could not help but notice the same katana pattern on the other boy's blue jacket as well. the symbol only proved him right: they were working together in a gang. it definitely was trouble. and it explained how the men knew how to throw a punch, too.

"nah," kai smirked. "i wanna see my sis take these assholes in."

"kai," jay said more sternly.

zane watched the two other boys share a glance, as if conflicted. of course he wanted to run, too, but yet his feet held him in place. curiosity washing over the blond's features at the situation; he wanted to help, more than anything, even if he did not know how.

"you go," answered the boy in red. "you know where to hide. gimme a few extra mins."

"she'll get you too, hothead," jay continued, an eyebrow raised.

zane watched the realization walk all over kai. "fucker," the brunet mumbled, now taking a step back—head turned to the side as if to wordlessly gesture jay to follow.

"woah, woah—," cole stuttered, stepping forward. "you sister is a goddamn cop, and you're a member of that illegal kiss-ass fighter's club?"

"she don't know everything," kai laughed, looking as if he was about to take a proud bow.

"well it means you both know who ronin is, right?"

after cole spoke, zane's eyes widened. everyone knew who ronin was in this small town; and if zane considered kai and jay trouble, than ronin was practically a catastrophe. what the hell did he just get himself into?

"doesn't ring a bell," the ginger in blue answered, a sarcastic look written on his face.

"bullshit," cole spat. "i know you guys know who he is. and i know you aren't a fan of him, either."

"yeah?" kai answered, shrugging. he took another shy step back, and zane could tell all four of them wanted to leave now that the police were aching in closer. "so what?"

"well, neither am i," began cole, pointing back towards the bar, where the television was stationed. "and that news report you just saw in there? that was his doing . . not me, alright, hotshot?"

jay had raised a skeptical eyebrow. "what makes you think we'd believe you?"

"terra brookstone was the name of the woman killed yesterday."

"yeah, we heard. so?"

"i didn't murder my own fucking mother."

zane watched the two jacketed men scan cole up and down, as if processing what he had just said. and zane? . . he actually was starting to believe the darker man; it all made sense with what the noirette had said inside.

"i know you believe me," cole continued. "and i know you want ronin behind bars, too."

"what're you tryna say?" jay asked, a curious look written on his face now. zane could tell the shorter boy loved adventure—that he was totally intrigued into this twisted reality.

"i'm saying we take the bastard down together, moutermouth."

jay and kai had immediately answered with opposite words; jay agreeing in 'absolutely!' and kai on edge with a 'fuck no.' zane felt the brown eyes of cole wash over him, as if waiting for the blond to answer, too.

he didn't. instead he just observed as cole continued.

a finger pointer at the brunet in red, cole spoke up once more. "your sister, yeah? the cops want him under a rest, too. it would boost both of your reps."

for the first time tonight, kai was silent. zane saw conflict within his eyes, most likely because he was unaware what to think as well.

"and zane here—," cole said, voice brightened as he said the blond's name. "ronin always takes photos after committing a crime. we can get zane to find the location of the next one, so we'll know where this asshat will be next."

zane's eyes downcasted, before flickering over to the noirette. cole's eyebrows were furrowed, lips quivered as if he was wordlessly begging for the blond to agree.

"i'm in," zane mumbled, earning a first pump into the air from cole. "i'll do it."

"so . . ?" cole hummed. "you dicks in or not?"

it was now kai and jay's turn to share a glance. the sirens within the background echoing louder. stupid cops always took forever to travel to places anyway, but zane blinked one horror as the red and blue lights flickered a block down.

"what's in it for us?" jay asked.

"the fact i won't rat your dirty asses out to hotstuff's sis once they get here," cole replied, a grin on his lips as well.

zane could tell the man in black had won the two gang members over, it was just a matter of when they would vocalize it or not.

kai held a hand out, and the blond watched cole lean in to shake it; officially sealing the deal.

"if this fails, i'll go through the hell of law school just to arrest you fucks myself, got it?" kai joked in agreement, pulling back. his eyes gazed down the road, watching a sirened car finally come into view.

zane nodded silently, and cole answered with a 'sure, dickwad.'

"now follow me," kai began once more, beginning to sprint down the pavement. "i got a place where we can flesh this plot out."

jay followed with a holler in the air, skipping to get by kai's side.

"sorry i dragged you into this, dude," cole mumbled, making his way after the other pair.

zane shrugged, feet making him follow as well. "it's alright," he began. "i've heard about ronin before. and if it means clearing your case, i'll help any day."

the blond saw the refreshing look on cole's face; it resembled something of confidence, which was a good look. zane glanced forward with a hopeful sigh, eyes dipping into different roads to follow kai. it was not like he had anything to do this weekend anyway.

the basics of a plan where already practically in set, and all four members appeared to be on board.

the only problem now, it seemed, was trying to take the perfect shot.


	3. i wanna

"watch your head, snowflake."

zane was not sure if the words from jay were full of sincere concern, or spoken just out of mockery. but the blond ducked anyway, sinking low to slide underneath a hanging sign. he found himself in what appeared to be a blacksmith's shop. the only problem being, there were less actual weapons—and more lounging sofas and empty soda bottles scattered on the equipment. a wave of uneasy feelings rang through him at one of the back walls; it was covered in katanas, however they looked as if just placed there for decoration.

"the hell is this place?" cole vocalized bluntly, walking in after zane. they had went up about three flights of stairs to even reach this point.

"it's called, 'home'," kai mumbled, fishing into the mini refrigerator for a drink. "i know you might not be familiar with the whole concept, especially when you're a wanted criminal, but—."

"i get it, i get it," cole sighed, shutting the brunet up with a smirk.

zane watched kai toss a soda can at jay, as both gang members plopped down onto different plushed chairs. zane decided to stand, shifting closer to cole without putting too much thought into it. trust was rare, after all of course, but the noirette had a lot more from zane than the other two men did.

"we weren't expecting company," kai continued, snapping open his drink and taking a long sip. he absently pointed to one of the room's corners, where a heap of clothes lay. zane assumed they were dirty. "but those are jay's, anyway. i told him to clean up them like, last fucking week."

"suck it," jay answered, tongue sticking out playfully at the brunet's words.

"oh, i will."

zane saw kai wink, before the blond turned his head to the side—feeling as if he was totally intruding at this moment. they were supposed to be sketching out the plan, and zane was anxious to spill the information he had figured out.

"what the fuck, guys?" cole said, vocalizing what zane was thinking as well. "keep it in your pants for now, a'right? . . we have bigger problems."

"oh, right," jay tittered, a sheepish color washing over his face—attention shifting back to the soda can within his grasp. kai, on the other hand, did not seem to care. if anything, it only made his smirk bigger.

cole stepped forward, gaze sweeping through the messy room. "so, listen," began the noirette, a distasteful bitterness within his voice. "as i was saying before we had to run from the damn police, zane here can—."

the blond looked up proudly at his name, ready to focus on the actual business that needed such attention, however the black clad was cut off.

"hold up, beefcakes, who put you in charge again?" kai asked, swinging his soda can around in gesture.

"i did, dumbass."

"order in the court!" kai continued sarcastically, stomping his feet against the dirtied ground. "i say no. i don't take orders from criminals."

"you shook on it, didn't you?" zane pipped up, earning a smile from cole. he was nonchalantly waiting for his turn to fully speak up—for a chance to share the inside scoop he thought would be beneficial.

"you shook on it," the noirette repeated with a solid nod. "back at the bar."

"you shook on it!" jay added, just to be brought back into the conversation.

kai wiped his hand against his pants, as if tugging the hand shake off. "i honestly think we should just go to his house and blow it up."

"yeah, that's a perfect idea!" cole said sarcastically. "if we wanted to all get fucking killed."

"i'm just saying. ronin's plans change constantly and if—." kai's eyes widened, voice cutting off as a buzz filled the room. he leaned to the side, and zane watched the brunet pull out a phone from his back pocket. after brown eyes glanced at what zane assumed was the caller id, kai looked over towards the other three men. "it's nya."

"who?" cole questioned.

"his hot sister," answered jay through laughs; the adjective earned a scowl from kai.

"everyone keep your damn mouths closed," kai scolded, bringing the phone to his ear. and then in a much more bubbly voice, answered with a: "hey, sis! i saw the news, everything okay?"

zane felt an elbow playfully bump at his side. the blond looked up to see an amused cole, head gesturing to kai.

"bet he treats her like a princess," cole mumbled.

zane could only agree. after all, it was the first time tonight he heard kai speak so bubbly. he assumed kai made it seem as if he was a perfect sibling, only to do shit behind her back. shrugging off the thought, zane listened into half the conversation he could pick up on—he listened to kai's fake truths.

"nah, i got beer at my place. didn't go to the bar tonight," kai lied so easily, eyes peering to squint at jay. "yep, he's here—as always."

jay's eyes lit up, and he set the drink down. zane felt as if the younger was just waiting for his given moment to hop up, plopping himself into kai's lap to lean forward and speak into the phone. "hi, nya! we've crashed at kai's place all day. i beat his lazy ass at video games."

zane held a hand over his mouth, to stop any future laughs from sliding out. this was ridiculous.

"shut the fuck up, leprechaun, no you did not."

"we made a bet, nya!" jay continued, past kai's denial. "i swept his ass—nya, he's such a sore loser!"

kai pushed the other boy off, to speak into the phone without any more bothers; jay crumbled to the floor in a fit of giggles—blue eyes turning to cole and zane for a moment. the blond only shrugged absently, feeling deeply out of place within this whole situation.

a bubble of silence washed over the room, and zane could tell nya was speaking fluently through the phone. and because of kai's quiet negative change in facial expressions, it must not have been that pleasing.

"yeah, sis," the brunet mumbled, tongue clicking. "i'd tell you right away. you know that." more silence, and the brunet glanced up, setting the soda can onto a nearby table. "love ya, too, bitch. tell me when you're almost here so i can kick jay out for some peace and quiet."

he hung up a moment later, after blowing a kiss into the phone. kai tossed the cellular device off to the side, and it landed onto the floor with a thump.

looking over at cole and zane, kai signed. "she's onto it," the man in red said, waving a hand up in gesture at the black clad. "she got eye witnesses at the bar, including that shitty owner. they're onto it, too—they're gonna just keep looking for . . you, cole."

zane heard cole vulgarly swear under his breath, before the noirette spoke up, as well: "guess we just have to work fast then."

"i . . might have some helpful information."

it was now or never, zane thought, as all eyes darted to him.

"well?" jay questioned, turning to face the blond as he was still plopped on the floor. "do you need an invitation to say it or what, dude?"

zane tried to shrug off the words, and not take it so insultingly, before shaking his head. "i told cole earlier that my last photo shoot was for the garmadon's."

the blond's eyes fell onto the black clad, and cole nodded in confirmation at the claim.

"well, i believe they might b—."

"no, fuck no—fuck that shit."

"kai," zane mumbled, uneasy with the first name in his mouth so naturally. he had not even had the chance to finish his sentence before getting cut off. "please, i think it—."

"fuck what you think," kai interrupted, and it took everything in zane's body not to visibly cringe. "we don't need their help. those rich asswipes do nothing for anyone but themselves. we do not get their help."

"what i'm trying to say is," zane began once more, despite the others' discontent; even cole scoffed, "i know ronin will be there next—at the garmadon's."

"what?" jay asked bluntly. "how?"

"their son, lloyd, correct?" the blond hypothetically asked. "when i was over, he was constantly rubbing his fingers together."

"so?"

"and i believe he has hired ronin to kill his parents for full possession of their money."

"the kid probably has a twitch in his fingers, idiot," kai sighed, eyes rolling. "that means shit."

zane looked towards cole for any backup, but only received a lazy shrug in response. the others' faces were just as cocky. "i'm serious, guys," the blond finished.

"i'm serious, too." kai snorted a forceful laugh, before pointing a finger at cole. "where'd you find this dumb blond?" the man in red asked. "rubbing fingers together doesn't mean the stuck-up kid is plotting murder."

zane sighed, and crossed his arms over his chest—stopping cole from vocalizing that they had just met moments before any fists were thrown in the bar. apparently it would be harder to get the point across than expected, he thought. "he said to me, before i was paid to take the family photos," zane began again, "that there would be a big change of who's at the top. and that i would be able to find more photos of his parents within the week."

"how long ago was that?" cole pipped up, eyes on his shoes as if in thought.

"six days ago."

"well, shit," tittered the black clad. "you might be onto something . . when was ronin's last murder? e-except for the one yesterday, 'course."

zane tried not to notice the crack within the noirette's voice at the indirect mention of his recently killed mother. "about a month," the blond answered, trying his best to move away from such touchy conversation for cole. he could tell the older man already had it rough, and losing someone else made a pretty big dent.

"and the only reason it would be so long is cuz he's planning something big, right?" jay acknowledged, sliding over on the floor to reach for kai's phone. "dunno, guys—killing billionaires seems like a pretty big deal to me."

"well, fuck me," kai interrupted, eyes drawn playfully to jay. "that was . . not what i expected at all. the rich kid wants to kill his family?"

"i assume so," answered the blond with a confident nod. he was only confused on why terra brookstone had been killed yesterday, guessing it was not part of ronin's initial plan . . but zane knew the man did not give two shits about losing another life if it meant he succeeded.

"so how do we intercept it? how—how do we get there for ronin before he kills again?"

all attention on zane, he turned and gestured to cole with a bright smile; words unspoken on his lips, but he could tell the other three men picked up what he was saying.

"no—," cole stuttered, hands out defensively. "no, no, you got the wrong idea. i'm trying to wiggle out of snipping people down."

"it's ronin," mumbled kai. "he's not a person. he's . . he's a fuckwit."

"fuckwit is an adjective, that usually describes people, though, babe," jay laughed, fingers still tapping against the phone.

the man in red raised a questionable eyebrow. "he's a dick then. and he killed your mom, cole. 'member that? . . how can you not wanna shoot his ass?"

"i don't wanna stoop down to his level," cole mumbled gingerly, licking his lips. the man looked up, eyes sweeping through the room before landing on zane. "violence got me nowhere in the past, but losing more people."

zane sighed. "cole."

"don't make me do this."

"cole."

before the noirette could open his mouth again, kai spoke up—words wisping away with how soft they were vocalized. "pussy."

"excuse me?"

"i'm just saying," the brunet continued, standing up out of the chair. he confidently took a step closer to cole; zane suddenly felt tension swipe through the air. "if i was given the chance to go after the bastard that killed both my parents, i'd do it without a second thought."

"then maybe you should do this, too."

kai absently looked at his fingernails, scoffing a laugh. "i don't do guns," he vocalized, eyes glancing over at the back wall for a moment—the one covered in shiny katanas zane recognized from earlier. "i'm a swordsman."

"i'd have no problem sneaking you in to get close enough," cole continued, gaze off to the side to avoid eye contact.

the brunet had only rolled his eyes, arms crossing over his chest. "pussy," kai repeated.

"guys—."

zane was sure that voice was jay's, however the blond's attention was still drawn on the two other men, now practically face to face. zane was conflicted; this whole idea was cole's plan—and yet the noirette did not want to finish the job. perhaps zane was right; losing his mother did indeed take a toll on him, because every time that subject was brought up, the man seemed to mentally shrink.

"i don't wanna have to do this," cole muttered, shifting to the side to wiggle out from kai's eyesight; the noirette looked like he was beginning to crack under pressure.

"i don't care what you think, 'member?" the brunet snapped back, opening his stance as if cornering in the other.

cole looked as if he was going to push the man in red away, as if he was going to fully snap, before zane stepped in—hands wiggling between the two men and separating, pushing them apart.

"we're on the same team now," the blond said solidly, looking back and forth between the two. zane shifted to step fully between the pair. back towards cole, zane tilted his head to the side. "remember that?" he asked, eyes squinting at kai; the look scribbled on zane's face was his poor attempt at a silent threat.

he was not a fan of fights, and so the blond tried his best to stop what could obviously be avoided before it even started.

"guys!" jay repeated louder, voice tainted with annoyance.

"what?" zane asked, giving the other two men one lasting glance before stepping forward—moving away from them and towards the smaller on the floor.

fingertips still twisted around kai's phone, the ginger lifted the device up; zane peeked at the screen, noticeably looking at what appeared to be a text message conversation.

"nya's around the block," jay said, slowly standing up and glancing towards the locked door. "she sent that text a few minutes ago. if you guys woulda listened to me the first time i—."

"you fucks gotta get out of here," interrupted the brunet, hands immediately grabbing onto zane's shirt and pushing him back.

"i'm sorry?" questioned zane, shrugging off kai's hold. zane raised an eyebrow at the black clad, skeptical feeling washing over him.

"if my sister catches you twats in here, she's gonna go full cop mode and drop 'cuffs on us all," answered kai . . although everyone knew the bounty over zane's head was practically nonexistent; it was cole who put them all at risk.

the noirette's face flushed, reality crashing down. zane watched him reach for the door, before kai pushed the two back once more. this time, the touch was not harsh nor forceful, as it had been before.

"no, no," the red clad said, gaze sweeping around the room. "she's gonna be walking up those steps to get here—she probably is already."

zane watched kai hop over to the window, and the blond's head shook on instinct. "i'm not going to—."

"you have to."

"i can't," zane repeated, an inevitable fear washing over him suddenly. "i'll fall—."

"it's only two stories up," kai began, voice stressed as if trying to remain calm. his fingertips danced across the window's lock, switching it open and sliding the glass pane up. "and there's piles of garbage below. even if you did fall, you'd be fine. keep sliding to the left until you reach the fire escape to slide down."

"i'm not made for—."

zane was cut off once again, but this time by cole. the blond told himself that this was bizarre; he was just a photographer after all, and just here to draw in information. he thought the tough stuff would be done by the others, and yet now he was facing the window.

cole tugged him along, gingerly pushing zane towards the window's frame. "go first," spoke the noirette; a command, but not forcefully, "i'll be right behind you. if you slip, which you won't, i'll be right next to you to stabilize your feet, mkay? go."

zane swallowed. he blinked back at the room—at jay glancing at the phone, fingertips dancing across the keyboard; kai was currently peeking through the door's peephole, as if on guard. and cole . . cole had his hands gently draped atop zane's hips—to gingerly provide the balance the blond felt he was lacking.

he inhaled, and leaned forward, climbing up to shift over the windowsill.

"go ahead," cole cooed once more, and zane reluctantly listened. "don't worry about anything, i know where we can go. just focus on climbing over to the escape."

no one had actually said it, but zane knew not to look down. his feet gingerly slid across the window's three inch ledge. hand reaching out, the man attempted to grab onto the nearest pole of the fire escape.

"you know where chen's is?" the blond heard kai ask.

"yeah, 'course," cole answered immediately.

"great," added kai. "go there. 8am, got it? tomorrow morning, at 8am, by the back door."

there was only silence after that—followed by, of course, the rustling from the street down below; people chatting in the distance, cars driving by without a second thought. and zane was two stories above them all, clinging to the metal of the fire exit as if his life depended on it . . because it kind of did.

his eyes dawned onto the steps—onto the ladder that would bring him back to the ground. zane felt a smile creep onto his face, even at the mere thought that he would actually make it without slipping up.

"jump," cole mumbled, standing sheepishly right behind zane. the noirette's fingertips were still holding onto the inside of the window, and zane felt the man hold his other hand out—over to the ledge, to keep them both from tilting the wrong way.

"jump?" the white clad repeated, eyes widening in question.

"poor choice of words," hushed the older man, pointing to the fire escape's platform. "just take a giant step there. and then we can go down the steps to drop to the ground."

'drop to the ground', made zane think this was a bad idea, before realizing there was no other way to make it to the landing except for just going for it; and so he did, both feet into the air before luckily landing flat on top of the platform. he made his way to the ladder, dropping them down and slowly stepping closer to the ground.

"move back," cole stated, just before making the little leap as well. zane saw a flash of red by the window, just as the window slipped back shut—and was able to conclude that kai had locked it back up.

as zane thankfully reached the floor, he held a hand out to cole—who took it without hesitation to drop onto the dirty street as well. the blond did not even realize he was offering a smile, proud he had completed such a rigorous task.

it might not have been awful for a trained sniper, nor elegant gang members who have to sneak in and out of areas without thinking twice, but for a simple photographer? . . zane felt the rush of adrenaline. and he actually enjoyed it.

"you alright?" the blond asked, walking next to cole as they made their way to the main street.

the man hummed contently in response, and zane felt brown eyes scan over him. "and you?"

"i am great."

"great."

"where are we going now?"

cole paused, dirty shoes tapping against the dirty pavement as the pair walked. zane saw what appeared to be regret washing over the black clad's face—eyebrows furrowing.

"my dad's house," answered the older man after a long second. "and i am apologizing in advance."

". . why?"

"because he's a drunkie."

"oh—."

"it's alright, man," cole shrugged. "half the time he drinks too much to even notice i come home. but uh, you don't have to come with if you don't wanna; i'm sure you probably have a much better home than mine and we can just meet up later."

zane shook his head. sure, he felt almost like dead weight compared to the others who obviously knew how to fight, but leaving felt like a bad idea. maybe zane felt bad—he felt bad for everything it appeared cole went through on a daily basis. perhaps it was sympathy for the black clad zane felt, but he did not want to let the feeling go.

"i wanna come with you."

zane was not one who would ever wish something bad on another. but ronin? . . sounded like an awful person—going on killing sprees for fun on innocent people.

and cole?

cole deserved so much better.


	4. you're not

most of the walk was quiet; it took everything in zane's body not to ask more questions or break the silence. and so his feet simply shuffled against the pavement, eyes scanning around the outer edges of ninjago city. lights were flickered out; there were less giant apartments, like kai's, than there were suburban homes.

the only thing left for him to do was think. most of the time, zane disliked that idea—it often left the blond to overthink, thoughts racing way farther than they should have. but this time? . . he felt as if overthinking would be beneficial.

after all, what the four men were planning on doing had trouble written all over it. not to mention zane . . would be an accomplice—practically a murderer himself.

checking the time on his watch, the white clad noticed it was almost past one am. the dull sky overhead glistened rarely with far off stars. and zane? . . zane was now walking up a driveway.

there were already loud noises, at which zane assumed it was the tv, echoing from outside the home; lights flashed from the window's closed curtains. the blond watched cole take keys out from his back pocket, jiggling them freely until the wanted key was found.

"just . ." began the noirette with a tired sigh, "just let me do any talking."

zane nodded, as cole slipped the key into the lock and twisted it, hearing the door open with a pop.

from within the house, a loud yet drawn out, 'heeeeey,' could be heard—and if it was not for cole's previous warning about the situation, zane would have immediately turned around and left. the fume was stronger than he imagined, hard liquor and alcohol washing over the blond right as he stepped inside. that was saying a lot, considering they were in a bar moments earlier in the day. standing in the entrance hall, cole gingerly shut the door behind the pair.

and it was dirty; not the type of dirty from kai's apartment, where the occupants were more lazy to clean up the mess—but a dirty that made zane disgusted. it looked as if cole's father was trying to turn the place into a shithole on purpose.

"sorry," the given noirette mumbled, nonchalantly pushing the blond behind him as if in protection for what was about to come. "i should have told you it wasn't that clean."

zane tried his best to wash off whatever visible cringe was written on his face. cole did not need to feel embarrassed about a situation like this . . one he could not exactly help.

"it is okay," the blond whispered back, afraid if he spoke too loud that cole's father would hear and—and he did not even want to think about what would happen then.

"we're, um," began the noirette after a hesitant moment. zane watched his dark brown eyes scan the entrance, brows uncomfortably furrowed when he glanced to where the light and sound was coming from—obviously the tv where his dad was sitting. "let's just go up into my room, it's the only place he refuses to go into and—."

"what the fuck did i tell you?"

it was clearer than the greeting they heard this time. the voice was much more deeper than zane had expected; much more scruffy, and . . scarier. the blond guessed all his vulnerabilities were written on his face once more, because cole squeezed his shoulder. whether the movement was out of reassurance or . . something else, zane knew not. but what he did know that it sure felt like the blanket of comfort he needed.

"go up the stairs. third door on the left."

zane was mid-nod when cole gently pushed him into the direction of the risky staircase. he thought, at first glance, it would crack under the weight of his feet—but began to hold up surprisingly well.

"i'll be up in a few minutes," cole continued, voice still hushed. "try not to touch anything please."

zane did not want to go; he did not want to suddenly leave cole alone, even if the black clad had to deal with such circumstances every day. so he decided to go up the stairs, but stop at the top—crouching down to peer into what he could only guess was the main family room through the railing peep holes.

"hey, da—."

cole did not even get to finish his sentence before his father spun around to face him. the man was tall, and zane assumed it was where cole received his height from as well. a stubble beard unevenly clinging to the man's chin, there was a tangled mustache under his nose. his clothing he wore reminded zane of the likes of a homeless person: ripped and tattered, white bleach spots throughout.

and in his hand, of course, a bottle.

"it's late," the man spat, taking a clumsy step forward. he pointed a finger accusingly at his son. "what did i tell you about staying out?"

zane was once again conflicted; cole, a legal adult, still listening to all of his angry drunk father's words. why? . . zane asked himself, knowing very well if he was in this situation—he would have left long ago.

"i know, dad," the noirette mumbled, head tilted down to where zane could only assume he was glancing at the bottle. mayhaps it was because the man did not want to inhale his father's breath—because zane had experience with drunk people . . and the scent of alcohol was stronger up close. "and i already told you: i'm fine. you don't have to stay up all night for me."

the man scoffed, taking a large sip of the alcohol within his grasp. his body turned, arms sweeping in gesture to the tv for a moment. "i didn't. i was watching the news. guess who's face i saw?"

fuck.

oh, fuck—this was bad. zane knew it could not be good. cole's face was probably everywhere on the news by now, and having his dad find out? they were never getting out of this alive.

"who?" cole asked anyway, voice still hushed as if to keep his cool.

"your bitchy mother."

zane cringed. he actually, visibly cringed at those words. he could tell cole cared so much about his mom, and to hear such pitiful words—not just from a stranger, but from his own father? . . ouch.

"she's dead."

"i k-know, dad, she di—."

"is that what you're doin' tonight, huh?" cut off the alcoholic, words slurred. "finishing her off? . . hidin' a body?"

"what the hell—no, i wasn't—."

zane could tell the black clad wanted to say more; that he wanted his father to truly believe him, but instead cole only cut himself off—and he took a shaky step back. maybe cole being a . . sniper—practically paid to kill, was not common knowledge in his household.

"leave."

"what?"

"get out of my sight," cole's father repeated. "i don't wanna see your face for the rest of the fucking night."

there was silence, and zane saw both men dip out of view—their bodies covered by the ceiling angle at which the blond was watching from. but he heard footsteps, as well as a few displeasing grunts. some whispers followed; zane took it upon himself to finally walk upstairs. peeking around at the second floor doors, zane walked to the third on the left—cole's room.

while most of the previous doors were scratched, some even full of little holes, cole's was clean. the wood was a slick dark brown, knob a bright yellow.

"did i fucking stutter?"

that voice was definitely not cole's. and even from all the way up the stairs, it still ran shivers through zane's body. what if something bad was bound to happen? . . but—even if something did, what the hell would zane be able to do to stop it?

"dad, please go to bed soon," the blond heard cole say, much softer than how his father spoke.

"no."

"but—."

there was a crash, a loud, splintering crash that echoed through the first level. zane froze, turning back towards the stairwell, but paused out of a deeper fear. it sounded of glass, and the blond could only assume it had been a bottle of some sorts.

"don't tell me what to do," the older man repeated much louder, voice harsh and rough around the edges. "i'm . ." another scoff, and this time zane could hear the sarcasm within his voice. "i'm mourning."

zane swallowed, before walking back into the bedroom door that was coles; third on the left—the . . cleaner one. he could not bear to listen to the conversation downstairs and thought it best to walk away from that side of the house. after all, it was what cole told him to do. upon entering, the floor creaked under his weight, and zane was worried his cover would be blown. if cole's father seemed to react this way to just his son returning home, the blond had no intention of being seen.

the bed sheets were messy; clothes sprinkled over the floor. it reminded the man of kai's home—spare water bottles sprawled on each drawer. posters for semi-popular bands were pinned around the walls. the curtains were drawn, flooding the room in a near pitch black darkness—zane flicked on one of the light switches; the fan up above began to spin, as well the ceiling light illuminated.

zane took notice of a picture frame immediately, the photo tugged aimlessly into the wooden frame by cole's bed side. blinking, the blond made his way over to it. fingers gently picking up the frame, zane brought it closer to his eyes . . because his sight was not immaculate. glancing at the two faces in the photo, zane could not help but smile.

a woman, hair curly and long, as dark as the night sky, stood in the center. the background appeared to be some sort of carnival, because rides and bright lights took up the space behind. she was smiling, teeth showing, as wind ruffled through the air—providing a slight but comfortable blur. next to her, with one of her arms wrapped around his shoulder, was a young boy.

hair extremely similar, as dark as ever, he could only assume they were related. zane took notice of their similar experiences; of the crooked lip in both their smiles, of the tanned skin, the dimples.

they looked so happy.

"thought i told you not to touch anything."

zane froze, quickly turning around—only to spot the familiar noirette in the doorway. cole stepped forward, feet kicking the door closed gently. his eyes followed the item within zane's hands . . as the blond slowly placed the photo frame back onto the top of the desk.

"i apologize. i was just—."

"that's us."

"what?"

cole entered, making his way into the room. he walked past the bed, standing next to zane. the blond watched him pick up the photo again. zane stared at his movements, watching cole's fingers gently trace across the woman in the photo. his nose sniffled; a low, quiet sniffle, as if he was embarrassed.

"my mother and i," rephrased the black clad, "before everything went to hell."

embarrassed . . or trying not to cry.

his eyes did not gaze up, and so zane shifted closer to the other man. his own blue orbs scanning down at the photo again as well.

". . what happened?" asked the white clad nervously. he did not want to cross a line, but felt as if the shovel was already in his hands at this point; might as well continue digging down in that awful hole and get some answers in the meantime.

"she was almost always traveling . . for work, i mean," cole began softly. "and when she was home, she'd try to teach me stuff—y'know, like a mom would. hunting, cooking, how to ride a bike."

the man paused, sitting on the edge of his bed. the photo frame laid on his lap, brown eyes still peering down at it. zane paused, before slowly sitting next to him—risking looking up at the noirette's tanned face.

"one day, she . . didn't come back. last few words she said before leaving for a trip were: 'things are getting out of hand'," cole continued, and zane watched him blink a few times. "and then she kissed my forehead, told me she loved me, and walked right out the door."

"i . ."

"next time i hear from her," the noirette began again, a forced laugh twisted gently into his words. "she shows up dead down the street . . over ten years later."

zane swallowed. perhaps the other man's life had been much worse than he initially thought. he could see the glossiness in his eyes, about to cry, and it made zane glance away. "cole—."

"i don't even know why; why she left, or—or why she died. i don't know anything. but she loved me; she told me that every damn day. and she did more for me than my—than my . . dad . . downstairs ever did."

"i am sorry," zane mumbled, just as cole set the photo frame onto the nightstand again. "she must have had good intentions, i'm sure."

"maybe," sighed the other, crashing back to lay against his bed, hands shuffled underneath his head as a prop. "maybe she knew what would happen and did it to protect me or some fantasy shit. i dunno, man."

"why don't you move out?" the blond quipped after a moment of silence. "get your own place, you know."

"can't," answered cole immediately, as if the question was already on his mind many times. "i'm afraid what dad would do if i just . . left 'em alone. plus being here is the only reminder i have of her, no matter how stupid it sounds. and my name doesn't exactly bring smiles to people's faces. believe me, i've tried to fix this shitty killer reputation many times. and it still haunts me."

"what made you—."

"snipe?"

". . yeah."

cole absently waved a hand through the air, as if to motion the question off as no big deal. "my dad. even more so when my mom left, he was obsessed with being perfect—with being the best . . and yet he was probably the worse."

"the best at . . killing?" zane asked, feet shifting him to the side so he could glance at cole—hoping to get some deeper expression.

"at making money; he was a businessman and used to manage a singing group years ago—and i mean, years ago . . back when i was still in middle school." the noirette paused with a sigh, wiping his hands over his face—eyes now closed. "my mom, like i said, tried to teach me stuff. and not to brag, but i've always had a knack for heavy stuff; y'know, hunting, weights? the extreme shit."

zane noticed. he could visibly see the other man's strength in his biceps and the way he walked—not that zane had stared before, definitely not.

"when i held a gun in my hand," the noirette continued, as if telling a story to kids. "i felt . . like i could actually make a change. and sometime later, near the end of high school, i was being paid to put bullets in people's heads like some sick hitman. not that my dad was against it . . he didn't care how i was making all this cash, just glad i was."

"so he doesn't know?"

"fuck no. barely anyone does—or, erm—did. now it's started to be common knowledge thanks to ronin," answered the tanned man, rolling his eyes. "i have no idea why my dad asked if i—." he swallowed nervously. "if i . . killed mom. it was probs just the alcohol."

zane was going to end the conversation there, to quit and just try to sleep somehow so this could all go away in the morning . . but the question already slipped out of his mouth: "why does he drink?"

cole gave another forced laugh, and it came out like a huff. "same reason why everyone does, i guess," answered the man, sitting up and pulling his legs towards himself to fully sit on the center of his bed. "to forget? . . to move on or—or have a moment of bliss."

the blond noticed cole's little shrug after a wave of silence washed over them. it felt . . relaxing, even with the given circumstances; zane felt relaxed to simply just sit and breathe. until the moment was broken by a loud knock on cole's bedroom door.

both pairs of eyes flickered to the given side of the room, and zane felt himself inhale sharply—worry flooding him worse than when he had to climb out a fucking window to escape earlier.

cole held a finger up to his lips in a gesture for them to shush. before he could open his mouth to question who was there—even though it was painfully obvious, the man on the other side spoke.

"hey."

"hi." cole's voice was much quieter compared to his father's.

the two men in the room shared a glance, eyes speaking a thousand words at once, before cole stood. zane watched the noirette stand by the door, a hand against the dark wood as if he could hear his father breathing in hopes he would walk away.

the handle shook, and that was when zane realized the other's dad was trying to get in. thank god for the lock.

perhaps his eyes grew visibly wider in shock at that motion, because cole glanced back, eyebrows furrowed—once again putting a finger to his lip, to tell zane to be quiet. and be quiet he did. it was the least he could do in such sticky circumstances, especially after cole verbally told him so when they were both downstairs.

"there's chinese food in the fridge," began the man outside the bedroom. "leftovers. they're mine, so don't fucking touch them."

cole looked as if a giant weight was lifted off his shoulders. "okay," he answered, turning away from the door.

loud footsteps could be heard walking away, and down the hall. zane let out a quiet sigh of relief at the realization that they were alright . . at least for now. he looked down, gingerly playing with a broken seam on his pants, as cole slid open his closet.

"we have to be out of here before 8am," whispered the black clad, pulling out a spare blanket. "so, um, unless you wanna risk . . you know who budging in our convo again, we should probably try to sleep."

zane nodded, shyly standing up off the bed, springs echoed at the moment. "correct." he nodded, going along with the quick topic change—not that he could blame cole for doing so . . personal stuff was personal stuff. "8am, at chen's, yes?"

"yeah, bud, that's right." a handful of blankets cradled within cole's hands, the noirette gently shut the closet back up again. he spun around, raising an eyebrow. "you want the floor, or—?"

zane hummed, head tilted questionably to the side at the offer—and that was when he realized what was being asked. the blond shook his head, hands looping together in front of him, by his waist. "i'm not picky."

"cool; bed it is."

"wha—no, it is your room; you should get the . . bed."

cole paused, squinting amusingly. "thought you said you weren't picky?"

"i would not like to intrude that much," answered the blond, shuffling back to make room on the floor where he assumed cole would place the blankets.

"you're the guest."

"it's your room."

"and i don't even deserve a comfortable place to sleep anyway."

"what?"

"don't pretend like it's not true."

"pretend, what?"

"that i'm a good person."

zane's brows furrowed at the claim, his head automatically shaking in denial.

"don't bullshit me, frosty; i'm probably just as bad as ronin."

he was going to comment on the seemingly out of place nickname, until realization washed over him once again. cole . . really was a killer. "you didn't have much of a choice," zane argued gently.

"i did," interrupted the noirette, tossing the pile of blankets bunched in his hands onto the floor; he grabbed a pillow of the queen sized bed, laying it onto the blankets as well. "and i still fucked it up and picked the bad route."

"but you—."

"i'm asleep." cole cut him off, dropping onto the ground. he pulled his phone out of his back pocket and began swiping across the screen. "and you should be, too."

zane sighed. the heated side of him wanted to argue that statement—to say that even if cole shot people down, it was still in reason; others paid him to go after a target. he . . was indirectly killing. and unlike ronin, cole appeared to have mercy and a whole heart.

but instead, his blue eyes blinked, body moving to flicker off the lights with a finger. zane blew a raspberry before sitting back onto the bed. it . . looked clean, and so the man awkwardly shifted back. blond hair again the remaining pillow, zane let his eyes gingerly close.

"goodnight."

there was silence, as the light from cole's phone shined off. "'night," the noirette reluctantly answered.

maybe they were both underestimating themselves.

or maybe . . just maybe, cole had a point. and while zane refused to believe so, he did not know why he thought of cole so highly.


	5. let's exchange

"get up."

as light poured into the room, zane's eyes groggily began to blink open.

"wake up."

the voice echoed around him. he did not register who it was at first, thoughts so daringly clouded from the night's restless sleep. slowly sitting up on the unfamiliar bed, zane sniffled—hands reaching up to rub away any leftover sleep from his eyes.

"it's 7:30am," the voice continued. "we got half an hour to get ready and be at chen's."

the name of the dining restaurant brought zane out of his thoughts and back to the real world, finally taking on cole's form on the other side of the room. the noirette had a dark t-shirt in the process of being pulled over his head, chest half bare.

zane forced himself to look away as he turned to the side. his feet swept off the bed, clinging to the messy floor. it was not his normal morning routine, but it will all have to do for now. after all, yesterday was definitely not any way how it expected to go.

"oh, and here," cole spoke up once more. zane felt a sweatshirt smack him in his face, the fabric soft against his skin. "put that on. even i'm embarrassed with what you're wearing."

zane's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but the man did not make any complaints; even earlier, at the bar, cole had obviously felt off with the blond's outfit. his mouth huffed a sigh, taking the light sweatshirt and sliding it on over his initial clothing. it was long—big, on zane's less broad form, but would have to do. and . . more importantly, it smelled like cole—or, well, what zane assumed what cole smelt like, not that he knew, of course.

. . was that weird to think about?

he did not get to dwell about it much, before slipping back on his shoes—eyes darting back to cole as the other man opened the door. zane bit on his bottom lip anxiously at the creaky wood.

cole noticed the uneasiness practically immediately. "don't worry. he's asleep; passed out a few hours ago . . hung over, i mean."

zane did not need to put a name on the pronoun, as he knew it strictly referred to the only other person within the house. the words gave the blond a little wash of relief, as the pair exited cole's bedroom and progressed to the front door.

"you got cash?"

"i mean, a little bit?"

the noirette nodded. "okay, then you can get breakfast there afterwards."

and then the pair fell quiet. zane did not want to question why they could not just grab some sort of food from the kitchen—because it dawned on him that there must not be a lot of edible items present anyway.

cole grabbed a jacket that hung against the steps' railing, swinging the article of clothing on and zipping it up. the hood loosely atop his head. zane knew it was for protection—of his identity, just in case. the noirette unlocked the door after a moment, swinging it open and gesturing for zane to walk out.

he did, muttering a 'thank you' after doing so. it was cold outside; zane was quite thankful for being offered the hoodie in this case, as well. wind fluttered throughout the sky as the two men walked down the driveway.

it was not a long way aways to chen's; just a block or two. the restaurant was one of the best in ninjago, except it was not as busy at such ungodly hours. zane wanted to spark up conversation with cole while on their way there—he wanted the other to know stuff about him, as he knew about cole's past. it felt . . unfair.

the two were practically business partners now, right? . . basically accomplices to crimes.

zane did not dwell on the thoughts as he walked around the food chain restaurant. he followed cole a bit extra down the block, so they reached the back alley entrance instead of the front. the flashy color of red that was starting to grow familiar caught zane's eye as he and cole peeked around chen's side. zane glanced down at his watch; 8:03am.

technically, late.

"took you long enough," kai mumbled, with what zane could only assume was sarcasm in his voice.

"got held up," was cole's emotionless response. the words were not exactly a lie, so to speak—they did practically have to tiptoe around before leaving the house.

"yeah, i can tell."

wow—what a great start to his morning; not even a minute in and the four men were already at each other's necks.

the blond aimlessly licked his lip at the moment of silence that followed, eyes darting further down the alley as jay shifted to stand close to kai's side. the ginger was still in a casual blue jacket, hands slipped into the deep pockets. and by the impatient look on his face, he had a lot to say.

"can we go inside now?" as soon as the man in blue spoke, zane knew he was right; jay was obviously anxious. "i'm hungry."

"inside?" cole repeated. "like, all of us?"

"yeah," answered kai with a nod. "don't worry, boulderbrains, i know who runs the place; we're close . . and i'm pretty sure she'll nudge off your case if you're with me."

it seemed like that statement was not enough, because cole was hesitant to enter. kai held open the back door, eyes ticking this way and that in gesture. the brunet verbally sighed before cole finally broke his stance and walked in. it was only then that zane entered as well, following behind the noirette; if cole deemed it okay to continue, then so did zane.

he was right about one thing: it was practically empty. a few booths near the front door were seated with more elderly people, sipping on morning coffee. zane slipped into a booth of his own, sitting next to cole and facing the two gang members, specifically kai. the blond was on the end, particularly because he assumed sliding in would shelter cole from any extra eyes. after all, it was suspicious to wear a hood up in doors, not to mention plain out rude.

within seconds, a redhead in an apron briskly walked over, menus in hand. she set the laminated papers down, eyeing the table—then turning to the back door, which now silently slipped close.

"what did i tell you about sneaking in?"

"if we wanted to sneak in," kai began without hesitation, elbows propped on the table to hold up his chin, "you wouldn't have noticed until the cash in the register was gone."

"sure," the girl scoffed, a cheery smile plastered on her bright lips. she paused, to slip a pen and notepad out of her waist band. "i see you brought friends. can i get you boys something to drink?"

zane raised an eyebrow at the offer. he shared a questionable glance to cole, who only shrugged in response.

"it's on me—order what you want," interrupted the brunet, clearly noticing the suspicions. face turning back to the waitress, kai continued. "but i'll have my usual."

she rolled her eyes, jotting down whatever the man in red's 'usual' was, before looking at jay. "and you, bluebird?"

"i saw someone up front drinking this . . whipped creamed—?"

"a milkshake?"

"yeah! a milkshake."

"chocolate or vanilla?"

"vanilla, duh," jay answered brightly, reaching across the table to grab a menu. "do you have sprinkles yet?"

the girl shook her head mysteriously. "no, but i'll make sure to pile on a bit more whipped cream for you."

jay's smile only grew, as the waitress's eyes dawned down onto zane. the blond blinked in surprise, nonchalantly pointing a finger at his chest, as if questioning if it was his turn.

with the silence that followed, zane had enough awkwardness for the morning and opened his mouth to speak: "water, please."

"gotcha," answered the girl, scribbling the drink onto the notepad. her eyes dawned into cole, and zane watched—trying to see if she registered any familiar reactions . . but to no avail.

damn, she must be clueless or one hell of an actress.

"coffee," cole mumbled, head tilted down to reach nonchalantly for a menu as well.

"oh-kay." the girl's tongue clicked, snipping the pen closed and back into her waistband. "i'll bring the sugar and cream over. look over the menu for a sec, boys; be back in a bit."

she began walking away, free hand out to ruffle kai's hair, much to his dismay. the movement earned a laugh from jay; snickers emitted from the girl as she pushed open the kitchen door and disappeared.

kai's eyes trailed down, a huff emitting his lips as he ran his hands back through his brown hair to fix what the waitress had just done; zane however, saw absolutely no difference in style—it still looked like shit. right after, kai reached for a leftover menu as well. "that's skylor."

"kai used to have a crush on her before he—."

a hand immediately moved to cover jay's mouth in order to stop the words from being blurted out. kai squinted, hesitantly pulling back off of jay's mouth after a shared glance. "you bit me," deadpanned the brunet, blinking down at his hand.

"you basically slapped me!"

"no one has to know what you were gonna say!"

jay's only response was a wiggle of his eyebrows, before cole spoke up. "god, are you two always flirting like this?"

"we can get worse."

"forget i asked."

zane could not help but feel amused at how bubbly the atmosphere felt, despite the fact they should be serious. apparently the thought dawned down onto kai as well, because his hands folded against the table, glancing up from the breakfast sandwich collium on the menu.

"alright, so," began the brunet, lips curling into a devious grin. "after you two fucks jumped out the window last night—."

"can you keep your mouth down please?"

"why? no one here gives a shit what we talk about; calm down, santa claus."

everyone seemed to raise a brow at the nickname given to cole. zane's lips parted, breath tainted with confusion as he repeated the alias. ". . santa claus?"

"yeah, y'know?" kai said. "bad kids get coal for christmas and his name is—."

"dude," interrupted jay. "that nickname fucking sucks. even i can do better."

the man in question, cole, sighed, fingers impatiently drumming against the table top. "i really don't think we should be discussing nicknames, when we're on a tight schedule right now."

"well, i was getting there, before someone interrupted me—that someone being you, cuz apparently i have to whisper!"

kai's voice grew louder by the end of his sentence, and zane imagined it was strictly out of being annoying—which worked. the blond spun, eyes scanning the other tables' participants who did not even bat an eye.

"told you," grinned kai, as zane focused back onto the other men—questionably turning to cole. "no one cares . . unless of course you're gonna give them an answer to the newspaper's crossword puzzle."

zane sighed, just as a tray with four drinks slid onto the corner of the table. without even the slightest pause, the waitress, who he learned was skylor, began passing out the four glasses accordingly. zane watched the sweaty glass of water placed in front of him; a moment later, three straws were dropped into the center of the booth. skylor slid a tiny jar full of cream down the middle, so it came to a clumsy stop in front of cole.

"guys know what you wanna order?" asked the ginger brightly, hands by her hips as if ready to slip out her notepad again.

zane had to admit, the way she worked so breathlessly was impressive—especially so that none of the cups even dared to spill, not even jay's which indeed was overflowing with whipped cream.

"not yet, sky," pipped up kai confidently. he pushed the remaining menu in front of zane. "some of us barely started to look yet."

she gave another lazy salute, pushing back hair in the process. "gotcha," the girl repeated. "tell me if something's up; i'll give ya some extra time."

this time around, zane did not watch her disappear into the back kitchen or around the restaurant. instead his eyes were drawn back to cole once more, blinking at the man as he twiddled to prepaid his coffee.

"we know when ronin's gonna attack," blurted jay.

"pardon?"

"oh, my god, you did not just say 'pardon'!"

zane's head titled in question, eyes torn displeasingky away from cole to settle at jay instead. "i did. what's the matter?"

a giggle emitted from the ginger before he shook his head, waving the question off. "well, okay then," began the boy again. zane watched both jay and kai shift in their seats out of what he assumed to be anticipation. "after you two left, we were able to look stuff up."

"nya?" cole asked.

"she went to bed basically . . immediately after," jay reassured with a lazy shrug. "i'd say it was a waste to jump out the window cuz she wouldn't have even noticed you guys, but it looked cool as fuck."

"anyway—!" kai interrupted, leaning forward as if the bomb of the conversation was going to be dropped. "most of ronin's, erm—crimes, are committed at night. you can tell by the photos of them that get posted all over the 'net he takes after and nya's pissed rambling at midnight about what happened. ironic, right? yeah, so, while i figured that out, jay was looking at the garmadon's security. and turns out, the night shift is . . something else."

oh, damn. zane knew the family was wealthy, but he did not pin them as the type to hire security around their exceedingly large home. then again, in ninjago? . . crime was never low.

"one team switches shifts before 11pm," added the ginger, lips curling around the milkshake's straw to take a sip. "ronin's probs gonna make a move while no one is . . on task, so to speak?" a finger pointed at zane. "and you were right. he hasn't attacked big lately. and if you're sure lloyd said a week, then before midnight on the last day of the week would definitely do the trick!"

cole inhaled, fingers gingerly twisting with his spoon as he listened. "it . . it's that easy?"

"apparently."

"fuck, man. why didn't we do this sooner?"

"i hadn't punched you in the face yet," kai mumbled amusingly.

zane paused, taking the rush of information in. he snuck a glance at cole once more; the noirette appeared to be biting at the inside of his cheek in thought. zane knew his own ideas were bubbling—he could not even imagine cole's. the man was so much more to himself than he was only a day earlier, and it made zane's features sadden.

following through with the plan earlier would have meant his mother might have—.

"dude."

it took a second to realize kai was talking to zane. his leg mindlessly bouncing under the table as the attention drew onto him. ". . yeah?"

"hasn't anyone told you that it's rude to stare?"

oh, fuck.

was he actually staring for too long?

zane cleared his throat, eyes immediately pulling away from cole. the blond nervously looked at the menu, scanning the laminated words for a breakfast meal that sounded appealing.

there was an awkward moment that settled down, before cole was able to take a sip of his newly prepared coffee—eyes turning to face the others. "so tonight before 11pm?"

"about that," began jay once more, eerily scratching at the back of his neck. "we don't have a location. the garmadon residents is big, and—."

"and ronin will be wherever they are." zane's voice interrupted before he even had time to realize. "we would just have to find out where lloyd's parents are going to be—probably bed, at such a late hour. and all we must anticipate is where ronin is attacking from."

"unless it's a long range gun," added kai with a sigh. "and that way he can spot the fucks from across town without anyone else even knowing."

"they're rich, correct?" zane hypothetically asked, earning a nod from the others. "what is the most richest way to . . murder someone? how would one rub that in?" the words felt sick on his mouth as he spoke; it was as if zane was glorifying what was almost inevitable to happen—and he was not trying to. especially not when someone whom he considered a friend went through the experience only days ago.

kai's lips parted in what looked like realization. without vocalizing it, he dragged a finger across his neck in demonstration. "a slit," he mumbled after a moment. "with a clean blade. even more so when the murderer has to sneak in and out. it's the hard ways that account for more."

"and we know he has to get close to take a photo of his doings afterwards anyway, yes?"

"yeah, so we just wait until the garmadon's die to—."

"no," zane cut off, a hand sliding through the air in gesture, words punctuated. "no, we stop him before he can succeed. no more deaths."

the blond could tell the others wanted to comment on his statement, however the conversation was cut short as skylor appeared again. the men ordered, zane going last to give him more time to look at the menu—which he neglected to do beforehand.

once the redhead dipped off again, cole did not hesitant to spark up the chat again. "no more deaths," he repeated, eyes dawning up—since there were no menus scattered on the tabletop to use as an excuse not to make nervous eye contact. "but what if we're wrong?"

"wrong, how?" questioned jay, a bubble of worry laced into his words already.

"we're going off of assumptions, guys; what if—."

zane placed a hand on the noirette's shoulder, inhaling a breath to allow silence to filter in. "it's all we have," mumbled the blond. "but it's a lot better than what we had yesterday, and there is a chance we could pull this off, remember?" he was trying his best to ignite the confident cole from yesterday—the one who did not stop a bar fight if it meant his case was even slightly cleared.

jay's lips curled into a smile, hands reaching for his cup. the whipped cream was significantly lower, and the ginger was able to raise his glass up. "i say we toast!" the man in blue offered. "to us—to . . hope?"

kai offered a chuckle at the improved words, before talking his own drink and raising it up as well. zane's hand dropped from cole's shoulder to clasp his water into the air like the others. the blond offered a playful bump to cole's shoulder without thinking too much about it, silently telling the other to join in. after a reluctant moment, cole did—and the four cups clicked in the air.

"to hope!"

a cheer bubbled at the table, laughs following shortly after now that the four men really concluded a solid plan. zane could still very well sense cole's uneasy feeling about the situation after each glass was set back onto the table. and he wanted to help—he wanted to calm the noirette's nerves down. after all, this was concocted from cole's beginning ideas; it would feel as if the whole plan was a waste if the tanner man was not proud of such ideas.

"wait!" zane's blue eyes flickered back to jay, the ginger inhaling so suddenly in realization that he almost choked on his milkshake sip while trying to speak. "what about lloyd? . . who the hell is gonna distract him while the rest stop ronin?"

"i can."

"wha—zane, no . . are you serious?"

"cole," the blond began reassuringly, turning to face the black clad. "i can pretend i forget a piece of equipment from the previous photoshoot. meanwhile, you three can do as you must."

there was a moment of silence that dropped across the table. zane offered a smile as he turned forward, feet shifting underneath. "and if lloyd just so happens to be armed, i will do my best."

"no," cole repeated with a head shake in denial. "you practically shit yourself trying to slide out a two story window; you are not going to try to spark up convo about the weather to some psycho kid."

zane only mimicked the gesture, shaking his head as well. "there is nothing else i would be beneficial with. i am no skilled handyman, and i definitely can not take on ronin."

"well, don't look at me," jay mumbled, breaking the tension as it started to rise. "i already called watching through the film. i'm the backup, 'member? the eyes and ears. i'll get the police on the scene aft—."

"we get it, jay," kai interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "you're a scared bitch."

"not the word choice i was going for, but yeah, i am," answered the ginger reluctantly, arms crossing over his chest as if he was proving a point. "i fight when i absolutely have to. and it's obvious i'm not the strength in this situation."

"why join a gang if you can't hold up your own?" skeptically asked cole.

the man in blue shrugged. "i can too hold up my own! . . but cool jackets, cooler reputations." cue a wink. "and i get an excuse to hang with kai more."

"scaredy-cat," kai mumbled again, smiling even brighter. zane watched the brunet lean to the side, pulling jay closer. "you're lucky you're cute."

cole cleared his throat after the affection, clicking his tongue against his lips. "so jay stays back." a pause, the next sentence obviously bitter on his lips. "zane distracts the little brat at the front entrance. and what? . . that leaves kai and i to stop it—to get the garmadon's out _and _stop ronin?"

"i'm cool with it if you are," kai answered breathlessly, shoulders shrugging against jay's side. "like blondie said before, you could watch from a distance—at the window for when ronin slips in, to just end it with a —." his lips smacked together, echoing a _pop!_ in demonstration; zane got the message, and shivered.

cole's fingers brushed against the tabletop, invisibly drawing circles. "i'll think about it. how're we even s'posed to hold him down? zip ties?"

"well, if he's hurt enough, he won't go anywhere anyway. but i can take something of nya's—handcuffs? . . or even a gun to—."

"no," zane repeated, words cutting of kai. "don't kill them. or ronin, for that matter."

"fine, i get it," answered the brunet, a hand laying flat against the table in defense, as if giving up. he blew a raspberry. "no murder. but if it has to come down to my ass getting shot, or ronin's? you know who's gonna get an extra hole."

"try not to break anything either," zane continued. "i am most certain that you guys are already considered wanted. so lay low on any spare damage."

the others managed to nod at the statement, before skylor approached the table once more. her elbow was crooked, a tray atop her fingertips. the black piece of plastic slid gently against the edge of the table as the girl began naming the items on the plates—to make sure the meals were handed out accordingly.

once the food was passed down, and utensils were unwrapped, skylor sighed confidently. "good? . . any refills?"

"we're good," concluded jay with an antsy smile, obviously ready to start eating.

by the look on cole's face, so was he. zane pleasingly looked at the now food full table, before nodding skylor off, and the redhead began briskly walking back to the kitchen, most likely to return the tray before hosting another table.

the men ate. a steady, more . . lighthearted conversation bubbled down. and zane was pleased to see a few smiles here and there—from all four of them, nonetheless. the chatter drifted to nya again shortly, and zane was able to learn she would be working later tonight; so the girl would most likely show up after whatever goes down at the garmadon's. zane could only hope for the best outcome possible: all four get away harmlessly, ronin is in jail, the garmadon's stay safe—and lloyd . . gets help.

perfect, right?

_to hope_, zane remembered.

he was thrown out of his thoughts at the sound of a phone buzzing. looking up, the blond watched jay's eyes go wide—pulling the electrical device out of his pocket to hush the ringer.

"oh, shit," whispered the ginger breathlessly. he glanced up, taking a long sip of his milkshake—began shifting in the seat, messily crawling over kai to reach the isel, much to the brunet's dismay.

"the fuck?" spoke said brunet, trying to slide back against the booth's material to give jay room.

now clumsily standing up, the man in blue's fingers danced across his phone's keyboard, before shoving it back into his pocket. "i gotta split, guys."

"why? . . what's wrong?" asked cole, looking up as well.

a sigh, jay's palm smacked against his forehead. "my parents. it's—they made plans for this thing—this thing i forgot about." jay took a step back, ready to dash out, before turning back and pointing at the little bit of waffles left on his plate. "hey, kai, make sure to get that in a to-go box so i can eat it when i come back! it'll only be a bit—text me!"

and then the man wisped out the door, clumsily tripping over himself on the way out.

the others had simply blinked, before kai broke the silence with a booming clap. "well!" the man in red acknowledged. "i think that wraps up breakfast, then."

"guess so," mumbled cole after a moment.

kai brought his phone out next, placing it on the table in front of him. "what's you guys' numbers? so we can talk or whatever."

a number exchange—zane thought that was a great idea, and quickly brought out his phone as well, speaking off the digits to his number. the blond listened to cole as he did the same, before a ding echoed through the phones only a moment later.

"that's me," kai said proudly. "and i added jay, too; he's the extra one."

glancing down, zane scanned through the numbers, assigning contacts to the three new faces in the group chat. another ding went off.

_**new group chat: we attack at dawn**_

_**members include: zane, cole, jay, kai**_

_**saturday, 9:22 am**_

_**9:23 am**_ — _**kai**__: testing 123_

_**9:23 am **_— _**kai**__: jay's a bitch_

_**9:24 am **_— _**jay**__: fuck u xoxo_

"so much for that important thing," kai cackled, presumingly at the messages, before looking up and turning the device off. zane knew one could send a message while walking, albeit it be unsafe, yet still found the sincero funny. "anyway, i guess that's it for now? we'll, yknow, keep in touch, probably come back together by my place around 9pm-ish? sounds good? it'll give a few hours to get ready or some shit."

_**zane has changed the group chat name:**_

_**we attack after dusk**_

_**9:26 am **_— _**jay**__: wtf_

zane was listening to kai's previous words. he silently agreed with a nonchalant nod. meanwhile, he felt eyes on him, and yet his fingers typed away the answer before the remaining two members could question his choice in the new title.

_**9:28 am **_— _**zane**__: dawn is in at sunrise. dusk is at sunset. we will be following through with the plan after nightfall._

_**9:29 am **_— _**jay**__: it _

_**9:29 am **_— _**jay**__: it was a reference _

_**9:29 am **_— _**zane**__: my apologies _

"just leave it now," cole said, eyes downcasted to his own phone's notifications—before looking towards zane. his voice was lighthearted, a sheepish smile on his lips. and it somehow managed to make zane's stomach do a flip—in a good way somehow. "you really don't get it, do you?"

"i do not . . should i?"

cole shook his head, dropping a hand gently against the blond's shoulder—other hand waving in gesture to tell him to scoot out of the booth. "nah, it's alright, man. forget it."

zane did so and slid out, a confused, yet pleased matching smile on his own lips. it already felt like quite the achievement; making cole laugh. oh, how he wanted to hear the joyful sound much more often. the man, now standing, glanced at the table as kai and cole slid out as well.

the boy in red yawned, arms stretching over his head. "you two can go if you want . . really."

"are you sure?" zane asked. he was well aware of what kai said earlier—about paying, yet still wanted to be positive.

"yeah, it's no prob. i'll pay up front," answered the brunet confidently. "besides, i wanna talk to sky for a bit anyway. we all have a few hours to kill before nightfall; gotta make use of the time since jay ran off."

zane nodded. "thank you for breakfast."

kai had only hummed in reply, before waving a hand through the air in what zane assumed was a goodbye gesture. the man in red made his way to where skylor was, leaning against another spare booth as she cleaned off a table. zane turned to cole to see what was next, noticing the other was already staring back.

"guess it's just us again, bud."

"that is correct," answered the blond, rocking on his tippy toes for a blissful moment. an imaginary lightbulb seemed to flick on above his head, as he knew how the pair could spend the time together.

it was not weird. at least that was what zane told himself. perhaps he did find the other man mysterious, and wanted to spend time with him once more.

"do you have to run off to something, too, or what?" cole asked with another one of his breathtaking smiles.

it seemed he was not even trying, yet zane practically felt his heart flutter at the mere sight. "actually," the blond began, a grin on his features. "i know exactly where we can go."

"we—?"

cue a nod from zane, hand automatically reaching for cole's without hesitation, pulling the other out of the restaurant—and to a place where they could hopefully have some peace, before committing the planned crime.

cole let out a yelp, but did not argue or pull back against zane's hold.

"follow me," zane added, words twisted in a playful manner.

"i guess i have no choice, do i?" was cole's immediate reply.

the pair's feet gently skid against the dirty ninjago sidewalk, as they exited the restaurant. and zane shook his head.

"no you don't, but it's okay—i think you'll like it."

they all had to take the perfect shot tonight with ronin, but for now? it was zane's turn to try his own on cole.


	6. i know

mission success: cole had laughed more during the day.

and zane? . . he could not help but laugh as well. he felt as if his smile never left his face after the pair had dashed out of chen's restaurant. a few people stared in disgust at the quick movement, thoughts probably racing with the worst possible outcomes. but the white clad could not care less.

it was as if the two were stuck in the middle of the storm; the tornado's eye was always peaceful, with the worse yet to come.

zane knew that—he knew the probability of making it through this . . plan perfectly, was low. and y'know what? . . the risk seemed to make everything much more worth its wild. he felt every moment suspended in the air, and he tried his best to hold onto it. moments like this—with just cole and him, were . . everything he ever wanted.

"dude! look how far it went!"

"nice job," zane complimented, picking up a rock of his own. body turned to the side, the blond flicked his wrist in an attempt to make the pebble skip across the little ninjago lake—but to no avail. suppressing a saddened sigh, zane shrugged his shoulders. "i am not as good."

"pfft, nah, you don't look like you've had much experience," cole answered confidently, hands pushing back his tattered dark locks to peer across the watertop better. he then pushed up his sleeves, bare arms showing. "lemme show you how it works."

zane's hands interlocked together by his own waist, patiently watching the black clad pick up another rock—one a bit bigger than before. cole held it by his side, turning inwards so zane could see his movements better. the dark shirt hung loose over cole, and yet zane could still make out the other man's frame. blue eyes blinked, scanning to the rock within cole's hand instead—in hopes he was not too obvious.

cole's grin only widened, and _fuck_—zane's stomach did flips.

"go ahead," pipped up the noirette. "pick up another rock, and do it with me."

zane did so, grabbing another rock of his own, and poorly mimicking cole's stance.

this was not his first thought on where to hang out and waste time at—he initially thought about heading into the center of the city and dipping in and out of stores. that was what zane's father did with him when he was younger; the two would head back home and make little crafts and machines out of the previously bought equipment. zane was always told he had a bolt above the rest, and such little builds like so with his father only proved it—zane was smart . . and he was handy with a wrench, too.

but this was cole they were talking about, and cole practically had a giant target on his back.

so that idea was immediately scrapped, as zane decided on something a bit more . . open. after breakfast, the pair simply walked around for a bit—zane let the suspense sink into the moment, asking cole where he could possibly think they were going to hang out at.

cole added that the next best thing for broken equipment would be the half-assed junkyard just outside of the city.

zane said he was not that desperate; hard pass.

the park was usually always quiet, albeit the birds flying overhead and nearby cars honking past. but no one really paid much attention to who was who at the park; there were just trees, nature, and the calming sound of serenity.

well—and the water splashing as zane's rocked sunk to the bottom immediately.

cole's chapped fingertips gently reached for the blond's, rearranging his hold on the second rock. "kinda like you're throwing a curveball in baseball," added the sniper.

zane's fingers loosened up, eyes glancing to cole for confirmation. he was not one for sports, and did his best to assume what exactly a curve ball form would look like. yet after the blond revived a nod, he watched the noirette take a step back—and elegantly throw his own rock, skipping it beautifully across the water.

it was impressive. even more so at how cole made it look so damn easy.

"now you try," hummed the man. "make sure to flick your wrist."

zane answered with a matching nod, doing as he was just instructed; the pebble definitely went further than before—but it was not nearly as good as cole's.

however, cole seemed pleased with zane's progress. and somehow, gaining the other's complimented affection meant the world to zane.

"you did it, frosty!" cole cheered, fist waving through the air for a short second—he pulled it back at his side, as to not raise any unwanted attention from the commotion.

"i did it," zane repeated, voice laced with both confusion and confidence. it took him a moment to the gears to click, realization washing over the blond. his calculating blue eyes watched the pebble sink into the water after a few magical skips beforing looking towards cole. he had done it—the rock skipped. "thank you for the tips, cole."

the noirette blew a raspberry, waving the compliment off as if it was nothing. "it's no prob. you did all the work."

zane's eyes crinkled, a smile folding against his lips. the man scanned his vision away from cole—away from the other's joyful expression, to the water. the blond hesitated, feet on the edge of the bank. he pointed beyond the tip of the water, where tiny waves flew in and out to crash on the rocks. about to vocally take notice of little ducks across the pond, zane felt a distant tap on his shoulder.

turning to glance back at cole, the white clad raised a skeptical eyebrow. "what is it?" pipped up zane, demeanor shifting to negatively match cole's.

"someone's watching us."

shivers—they curled down zane's spine, fingers rolling into agitated fists. the happy moment was oh-so easily ruined; the joy ripped painfully out, as the two men seemed to be reaching the end of the tornado's peaceful eye.

"who is—?" began zane, ready to turn around to follow cole's line of sight to said mystery stalkers.

but cole stopped him abruptly, head shaking to silently say it was not the time. "we have to leave." cole swallowed, and suddenly zane was terrified.

if cole, the seemingly powerful, strong, independent cole was worried? . . zane stood no fucking chance.

"leave?" repeated zane, biting down on his tongue. he turned to reluctantly look back at the water, the ducks now long gone. "where? what if we're followed or—?"

"i'd rather be followed than shot down in the lake with the ducks."

fuck.

zane's breath hitched up, and he thought for a split moment that maybe he was not ready to follow through with this plan; maybe cole was right. zane would definitely shit himself when talking to lloyd.

too late now, huh?

without any warning, zane felt fingertips dig into his own—fingers interlocking. and cole tugged him away, cutting through the grass of the neat ninjago park.

"where are w—?"

"anywhere but _here_," cole hushed, cutting off the blond. "it's not just police, bud; it's—there're fucking fighter club members."

what? . . no, no—it couldn't be true.

kai and jay ratted them out?

feet skitting against the ground, still being pulled along by cole, the white clad risked a glance around. shock washed through him for the umpth time today. the matching katana pattern across the bright jackets was unmissable.

god dammit.

"maybe we can talk to them or—."

"no," cole cut off harshly. "no, we can't. we fucking—we _can't_. we can't trust them, and it was a mistake trusting the other two."

zane knew he was hopeful. he knew deep down, he wanted this plan for later tonight to work perfectly . . even if the likes of that outcome were low, nothing stopped him from hoping. nothing stopped zane from hoping cole would grow to like him—and zane could still not even put a finger on why he so desperately wanted the other's attention. yet, most importantly, he hoped that said gang members, kai and jay, were perfectly trustable and kind.

so maybe, in the end, zane's hope had not been a good thing after all; maybe it would be the reason he died.

and that thought only scared him more.

tripping mid-step due to his deepened negative ideas, zane stumbled against the rocky ninjago curb. cole had pulled him successfully out of the park, and they were dipping through building alleyways. zane never thought his life would become an action movie like this. his heart was pounding.

the noirette's grasp tightened to pull zane up, trying hard to keep both men on their feet. and the blond did so—clumsily standing back up, legs listening to his brain to keep running without question.

when silence washed over the two, albeit their faster paced breaths, the white clad did not speak; he let the sounds of the possible footsteps in follow grow louder and louder. zane was well aware, for one, that the gang members were illegal—that ninjago strictly wanted to break them up, even if the most harm they caused was a few fire rallies and mugs. and seeing them all together in public like this was just a call for trouble.

yet it was frightening.

next thing zane knew, he was going up steps two at a time in an apartment complex. at least he assumed it was an apartment complex; all he saw was cole briskly push open an _exit!_ backdoor sign and wiggle them both inside.

a handful of years ago, the blond aced school. every class was a perfect a+, whether he studied and tried or not—even gym. yet going up the stairs twice after running through the city? . . fuck, zane was tired. the only thing keeping him going was adrenaline—and, well, the fact if he stopped, it might as well be the end of the road.

against the flat landing, zane spotted the sign labeled _sixth floor_. he took the hesitation in cole's steps as a reason to lean forward and inhale deeply in an attempt to catch his breath. the noirette breathed as well, but wasted no time to peek over the side of the stairwell—down below to the ground level. it was quiet . . a little too quiet.

zane wiped the back of his hand against his sweaty forehead. "what n—?"

cole put a finger to the other man's lips, and the blond immediately shut up. "they didn't follow us inside." cole pulled his hand back, leaning against the step's railings. "why didn't they follow us up?"

"maybe they were not trying to follow us in the first place."

"no, no—i saw them. fuck, i _locked eyes_ with some of them,"

"perhaps you are just being paranoid."

zane did not in any way mean for those words to come off harshly. but by the way cole sighed, head shaking, and walked out the sixth leveled door, zane had no choice but to assume it did. perhaps they were both paranoid, however, because zane was positively sure he saw them as well—albeit it be in less if a threatening manner. he followed the other through the door, realizing they had stepped all the way up onto the roof. his first thought was proven correct: it was an apartment complex, because tiny plastic chairs and tables were scattered around.

cole did not look over the edge this time, instead just choosing to plop himself into one of the long benches. zane knew what was beyond the side, and it scared him; six floors up—they were six floors up, and already running from people. pedestrians down below going through their regular day, not knowing any trouble was rooted in the city. zane wasted no time either, and sat down next to the raven-haired.

"i did not mean to upset you," zane nervously mumbled, watching cole's left leg absently bounce up and down. he could pick it up—zane knew what that meant; they were both nervous.

"you didn't upset me."

"but you—?"

"i upset myself," cole interrupted softly—his voice strained as if he was exhausted . . not just from running, but exhausted mentally. "you're probably right, though; that i'm overthinking . . wouldn't be the first time, really."

well.

wind gently tore through the air; a subtitle breeze tugging against the sweatshirt upon zane's shoulders. had it not been for the droopy situation, he would definitely have considered it a nice day. taking another sheepish glance at cole, the blond sighed. he noticed the other's leg still bouncing in a jittery anticipation, as if policemen were going to drop from helicopters from above and take them in. zane felt the eeriness all the same.

but yet again, there was always hope.

putting on a smile, the blond eyes flickered forward, looking over the roof's edge at the skyline. "when i was younger," he began, using this opportunity to the fullest; he knew of cole's past . . so it was time to return the favor. changing the topic to be more positive made it seem like a win-win. "my father told me i would do great things."

there was a pause in his voice, immediately realizing cole's shift in position without even looking at him; he could tell, however, because he felt the other's thigh against his own. zane's smile soon grew to be more sincere. "and i always wondered what it would be," the white clad continued. "i mean . . school was quite easy for me, but it was for so many others as well, so i personally did not count being smart as something great—i thought it was normal."

cole snorted.

"and well . . realizing now, it isn't."

sniffling a laugh next to him, cole blinked forward, too; zane was only aware because he did not feel the beautiful pair of dark eyes on him anymore. "so what is the great thing, then?" asked the noirette.

"i . . don't know," admitted the other, shoulders shrugging absently. "before i finished high school, i got into photography. and i suppose you can say i'm good, right? after all, i was hired by _the _garmadon's."

"yeah," cole acknowledged. "as shitty people as they are, they'd never do something half-assed; only the best of the best for their perfect son."

this time around, zane slid closer, completely eliminating any leftover space between the two of them. he could practically hear cole's breath, just finally reaching a normal resting rate. the blond risked turning his head to the side, eyes casually washing over cole's sculpted features.

his side profile was . . a blessing.

zane licked his lips, gathering his thoughts. back into the eye of the storm, he believed. this moment was absolutely breathtaking. "i was ecstatic when they hired me," he mumbled, voice whistling away with the moment—laced with a laugh.

"bet you did a great job."

zane could not answer. every and all words were suddenly gone . . and he froze. fuck, cole's side profile was just a blessing—but when the noirette turned to face him? . . that was—wow. looking at cole straight on, peering into his swirling eyes that glistened in the sunlight, watching the tips of his hair curl this way and that? fucking _heaven_.

and he thought of something so much better to do with his mouth than just talk.

"i hope so," zane mumbled reluctantly, dawning back to planet earth. he knew—holy hell, he absolutely knew his face blossomed into a sheepish crimson color. and y'know what? . . he did not even care.

all that mattered in this moment was cole's smile; the curl of his lips, melting to the man's dimples like a masterpiece. all that mattered was how fucking happy zane was to see the feeling was mutual—as cole blinked at zane's face, as well. and even more so, that the black clad's leg had stopped bouncing up and down, notifying zane that there were no more briskly nerves about how fucking negative their situation felt.

there was only cole and zane—just how he liked it.

and . . well, a buzz.

zane heard cole mumble a '_what_?', eyes unfortunately tearing away from zane's. the blond did the same—and as much as it hurt him, he scooted ever so slightly away. there was vibration within his pocket, and the noises seemed to click into place, zane realizing what it was—pulling out his phone and looking at the messages piling up at the notification screen.

a sudden second ding pulled the two out of their thoughts abruptly even more. cole did the same, reaching into his pocket for his phone.

_**we attack after dusk**_

_**sunday, 1:48**_

_**1:48 **_— _**kai**__: yo change a plans_

_**1:48 **_— _**kai**__:_ _we can't go to my place no more cuz cops r still the bar n it's too close of a ridk to repeat last time_

for fuck's sake.

this seemed like the worst timing possible. zane unlocked his mobile device, looking directly at the messages as kai continued to type. next to him, cole sighed deeply.

"guess i really was paranoid or something after all," hushed cole, and zane watched him bite his lip. the movement was done out of bitter feeling, and zane felt bad for thinking it was so damn mesmerizing. "everything's still on."

zane stayed silent.

_**1:48**_ — _**kai**__: but don't worry dudebros, ik of another place_

_**kai has sent an address link **_

_**1:49 **_— _**kai**__: go there before 11_

_**1:50 **_— _**jay: **__what's a ridk_

_**1:50 **_— _**kai**__: up ur ass _

_**1:51**_ — _**kai**__: risk*_

_**1:51 **_— _**jay**__: ;)_

zane waited for another ding to buzz through, but no more messages were sent. he reluctantly clicked on the link; it took him to the map app on his phone, showing directions to another local business. a few times in the past, the blond went to karaoke dokey, but he was not much for singing—so he usually stayed away.

"i would say it could be a trap, but this place is legit," voiced the white clad. "so, i say we go."

"okay," simply answered cole, sliding his phone away. "we'll go."

zane followed suit, slipping his own phone back into the sweatshirt pocket. he turned gingerly to face the other once more, noticing how his features seemed to sadden. fuck. that was not what zane wanted; he wanted to see cole smile.

clearing his throat, the blond did not think twice before scooting closer once more, removing the space between the two again. being so close so soon seemed to ignite flames within zane, and his face flushed up for the second time. butterflies danced within his stomach.

but most of all, he looked down. zane felt tiny circles being nonchalantly drawn on the back of his hand. it took him a moment to realize that it was cole—and their fingers were once again interlocked, palms together. he had no idea when cole had so gracefully started to do so, but the simple movement made zane seem to relax.

and all at once, he was at peace.

of course the text messages were annoying as fuck, but leaning against the edge of the bench in the warm light, tangled in cole's sweatshirt, zane ignored it . . choosing to focus on the good in the moment. turning his eyes at cole, zane expected to see the back of his head, but instead the two locked eyes.

_he was staring at me already_, zane acknowledged. and if there was any possible reason to _not _kiss cole, zane had no intention of finding out.

leaning forward, a hand up to gently trace across cole's cheek, zane softly inhaled. the tan skin was breathtakingly soft. he felt cole untangle their fingertips—and zane let his eyes close at the other's touch; foreheads now leaning together, the two were so fucking close. at the tingle sensation of cole's hands within zane's hair, he thought if this moment waited any longer, he would fucking explode.

both their breaths light, zane blinked. eyes once more soaked in cole's expression; lips parted gingerly, doe brown eyes scanning over zane as well. they were so close, zane could practically soak up all of cole. yet he waited for a moment, as if watching for the sign to go—the sign he needed to land his feet back on earth, because _fuck, _zane felt like he was floating in outerspace.

so, zane blinked his eyes closed once more . . and kissed cole.

the noirette's lips were soft. zane did not even realize how he leaned even more so into the other's touch; cole's hand had now wrapped around zane's neck, pulling them as close as can be. one of zane's hands found its way to cole's cheek again, tracing up and down the black clad's jaw—as his other hand gingerly laid atop cole's chest.

and suddenly, the gears had successfully turned—and zane knew why he so desperately wanted the other's undying attention.

if butterflies were fluttering within zane's stomach before hand, now he was on cloud nine itself. his lips parted for a short, yet sweet second, taking in a breath of fresh air—before connecting their lips once more. the second time felt even softer, if that was even possible.

zane felt a tug in his hair, given with a bit more force than previously. it was not that the movement hurt—in fact, it felt even fucking better . . albeit, it caught him off guard. and zane tried to suppress a delicate hum at the hands tangled around him, but to no avail.

a nervous rush of embarrassment crashed over him as cole quickly pulled back. warm outside or not, dressed in cole's own sweatshirt or not, without the noirette holding zane close—zane felt cold, alone. he tried his best to show cole that it was alright; that he did not feel displeased with anything at all—and probably felt the best he had in ages instead, just with the plead of his eyes . . but it appeared not to work.

cole looked horrified. and zane had no god damn clue as to why.

the blond blinked, watching cole's expression change; it was no longer the soft features he had just kissed _twice! . . _he looked menacing.

cole's hands laid into his lap as the man shuffled back. zane watched him look down, breaking eye contact.

the white clad told himself to help—to figure out what was wrong. and so, breaking the previously lovely silence, zane inhaled, leaning forward to try and get into the other's line of sight. "cole?"

_what did i do wrong . . what did i do—?_

zane's heart raced. and this time, it was a complete opposite to moments before; he felt like shit seeing that terrified expression on the noirette's face. all he could think, was that it was because of him . . which somehow, seemed to make everything so much more heartbreaking.

time stopped as cole stood up. zane wanted to reach out—to grab the man's wrist gently and pull him back to figure what the fuck he did wrong . . but he did not. shock crashed down, and all zane could do as cole stumbled back towards the door, was watch.

he tried to call out once more, but the crash of the metal door shutting, echoed around his head like a prison, kept him silent.

and he was alone.

his own perfect shot, a horrible miss.


	7. i'm wired

zane felt empty.

he did not move for a handful of bitter moments out of what felt like a shocked disbelief. the steps cole took to scatter away played on a loop within zane's mind; the way the noirette's hand clumsily reached for the doorknob—the way the metal door slammed shut, as if cole had pushed it closed harder on purpose.

and zane could not help but think it was all his fault.

_maybe_'s and _what if_'s bounced around in his thoughts, all of the ideas somehow managing to end more negative than the last. after all, zane had been the one to slide all the way together and touch cole's lips first. what if it was wrong? . . what if the noirette did not want it?

but if that truly was the case, why the hell did he kiss _back_?

fsm—and zane said he, himself, was smart.

after what felt like forever, he forced himself to stand up. checking the time, he noted it was almost two pm now . . all the more reasons to think that cole was long gone by now, right?

why run away so abruptly only to stand outside and wait? this was not a fairytale; it was not some tv drama with a happy ending . . and in ninjago, happy endings seem to be rare in themselves anyway.

kicking tiny pebbles out of his path, the blond made his way to the building's edge—like the rocks he had skipped into the lake only hours before. his fingertips gripped the railing—fingertips that used to be tangled with cole's, now painfully empty. everything seemed to correlate back to cole as zane looked down . . at the busy city's ground below. people briskly passed by; a group of others stood by the curb and laughed. red, yellow, and green lights flickered to allow cars to pass.

the city seemed to function just as good as it had been before zane felt his heart crack.

of course it had only been a few days the pair met, and yet zane felt as if he knew cole for much longer; the shared smile across the breakfast table, and awkward glances from the bar lingered blissfully in his head. cole was _not_ a bad man, zane told himself; he was not trying to be a merciless killer like ronin was—because cole was _compassionate_. he was caring, even when people did not give a shit in return.

the noirette stayed there for his father through hell and back. and after everything ronin did—not just to random people, but to cole's _mother_ herself, the black clad still did not want to gun him down.

those were definitely traits to hold onto.

and to zane, they felt like just the beginning, for he did not want to even start thinking about how cole tended to laugh at all of his jokes—and his jokes, _only_ . . or how at peace cole looked when the dark conversation of his past was no longer drooping over him to allow a peaceful serenity.

staring at the road six floors down, zane just simply inhaled. he breathed . . and he stressingly ran fingers through his hair.

fuck.

he did not know how to stop the cold tears from dripping down.

zane choked on the quiet sobs as they left his body, still attempting to sniffle and blink back extra tears. sitting against the edge, he held the railing tightly, palms growing red at the gesture. his knuckles ached. his _heart _ached.

cole was gone.

but cole had kissed him back.

and if cole really was gone, the three others stood no damn chance . . that was if kai and jay were truly still on board. so more for going to kareoke dokey together, huh?

fuck, why did everything have to be so fucking hard?

he rubbed hands over his face, nose scrunching with a sniffle. another sob rang through his body, as the man wiped his nose against the sleeve of cole's sweatshirt. yeah, it was gross, but the blond did not know if he would ever see the other man again. and in zane's own mind, it would be hella creepy to show up at his house—that was if cole was even back home. zane had no intention of running into the man's father again, especially alone.

some time later, the tears eventually slowed down to a stop, and zane gingerly forced himself to be semi-composted again. an agonizing thought popped into his head: he should have never even went to the bar for a drink—should have never been his cheerful, hopeful self and started conversation with someone so fucking cute, yet someone would tear his world into millions of pieces at the same time.

because now he was stuck in some twisted game with no apparent way out to win.

pushing himself off of the building's railing, zane walked back to the bench. he bit down on his tongue, and kicked the seat . . just to see the wood shake with his long suppressed anger. the action send stinging pain to his foot, but he was too amped up in his feelings to even process it too much. his fingers were curled into fists, before the man deeply inhaled and slid them into the pocket of cole's hoodie.

he knew there was no use holding on to something that was never his in the first place, but zane wanted to believe maybe—just for a second, maybe the world was not so dark.

turned out, it was.

then he walked into the same door cole crashed out of, and took the elevator back down to the ground level floor.

still somewhat frustrated, he briskly walked down the street. the hopeful part of zane told him to keep an eye out—just in case: in case cole decided to show up once more, or . . if trouble spiked down. zane knew, though, that without anyone else by his side, he should definitely be in the clear.

without helping wanted criminals, and surely without holding their hands, zane was perfectly legal.

however when the police sirens ached through the sky, zane could not help but flinch at the noise. he glanced up, looking at the infamous red and blue lights flickering. even when the calls were a few blocks off, he could easily dictare where they were most likely echoing from . . and the residence gave him even more chills.

chen's.

it took everything zane had in him _not_ to run all the way over there. the negative thoughts from only moments before washed away in the blink of an eye; and now he was more worried about what was at the diner that needed the polices' assistance like so. was it kai? . . still talking to skylor? or maybe it was—?

no . . zane knew cole was not that stupid to go right back to the place they had just run from.

but that burning feeling in his stomach still told the blond to check it out. after all, he really just wanted to help. nonchalantly making his way over, zane walked at a normal paste as to not raise any suspicion whatsoever. sure, he was in the clear physically, but the man felt as if he would crack under the pressure of someone potentially questioning him; limiting the possibility of that happening was what zane wanted to do at all costs.

what he first noticed upon standing across the street from chen's, was the undying yellow police tape. it surrounded the building, and many other passbyers lingered around the material as if desperate to find out what happened. zane felt slightly comforted at the fact there were other civilians were around to potentially shelter him from any lingering risk.

at least that was until he heard his name.

dawning back to earth, the blond looked around at who here could possibly try to spark up such natural conversation.

when he saw a redhead, chest covered in a dirty apron, waving him over across the street, zane was shocked. and yet somehow his legs did not hesitate to walk right in front of chen's to see what skylor had to say.

he watched her gesture off a camera man, simply denying being interviewed any questions, and drew all her attention back to zane. he felt a hand on his back, as skylor gently led him a short distance away from the police and nearby surrounding crowd.

he thought it could be a bad sign—she was practically taking him to a secondary location, right? and yet, the matching shocked look on her own face made any negative thoughts diminish.

"listen, i know what you're planning. kai told me, and—."

"what?" zane interrupted, taking a step back to be freed from skylor's touch. his eyes went wide, darting at the police—before settling back on the girl in front of him. so much for keeping it on the low, huh? . . however that conversation started totally abruptly, and it caught him obliviously off-guard.

". . and i completely agree."

he tried to stop the shock from being so obviously twisted within his words, but what skylor was saying was . . well, it was a lot. "_what?_" he repeated, now squinting suspiciously at her.

it felt like deja vu; trying to see if skylor truly knew what was up, or if she was just one hell of a good actress.

she did not seem to be even slightly phased, and continued to talk—hands now placed on her hips. "what i don't agree with, is how his dumb cult had to break in and rob my restaurant . . again."

"wait, wait . ." mused the blond eagerly, holding a hand up in defense as if to slow skylor down. "again?"

she nodded. "it's . . a long story. kai and i have known each other for a while, now."

"well, can you please start from the beginning?"

"not at the very start—but kai did tell me what you four were gonna do with ronin," she answered nonchalantly, a finger against her chin in thought. "right after you left with the other guy—don't remember his name, but i know i've seen him somewhere."

zane was going to go against his better judgement and talk about the noirette, to vocally put a name to the gorgeous face for skylor, but he held back. that would only prove her to be correct, and the blond was still on edge now about who to trust—even if what skylor was saying now seemed to match up with kai's words earlier about robbing the restaurant . . even if it was even more obvious that her and kai have had a past.

however, upon mentioning cole, zane would most likely have to talk about what exactly happened after the two dashed out . . and zane was not ready to become teary eyed when saying cole ran away.

so thank god the redhead continued her explanation. she took a step closer, making the distance between the two of them the same short amount as it was previously. "but i hope you know what you're getting into," she mumbled, her voice hushed as if someone was listening in. "ronin won't go down just by saying _please_, you know."

zane nodded.

"i've tried that already. trust me: doesn't work."

chen's was publicly labeled the best noodle shop in ninjago. zane could not even begin to count how many times the restaurant was targeted for crimes in the past. therefore, he could really only assume how many times ronin has personally struck the place down for some extra stolen cash. zane mentally gave props to skylor for still managing to hold the chain up by herself.

"and i want to help you, guys . . i really do." zane watched skylor shake her head as if conflicted. his own eyes widened once more at the waitress's words, allowing her to continue. "but i can't exactly put everything i have on the line."

the blond nodded in a brisk understanding; he too, was still very on edge about potentially throwing everything out just for one perfect shot . . and yet he really had no choice in the matter over this now. "i know how you feel," zane said empathetically, trying his best not to sound as shocked as he was on the inside. "thank you for your helpful agreement, though."

the gentle breeze that tore through the air made zane slip his hand into cole's sweatshirt again on instinct. suddenly, he wanted to leave—he wanted to go home and just watch tv. but skylor placed a hand on his shoulder, and the man's feet stuck into place.

"pfft—i'm not gonna give up that easily . . i have some tricks up my sleeve; i'll help on the down low from the outside." she winked, and zane had no idea what it was supposed to suggest. leaning forward, the redhead brought her other hand up to her mouth, whispering words near zane's ear. "anyway, behind you is one of the police chiefs . . i'm sure you've heard about kai's sister by now?"

god dammit.

zane nodded, eyes down, casting to the ground as the girl continued. "black ponytail, messy bangs, walks around like she owns the place?" skylor said, as zane was mentally making a picture of who to _avoid _once skylor finished. "she's walking over here to ask questions; she does it to everyone on or near the crime scene just to be safe."

god _fucking_ dammit.

the blond felt skylor pat his shoulder quickly before shuffling against the curb, putting a decent amount of space between the two nonchalantly. at the nearby footsteps from behind, zane felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up—thoughts full of ideas on how to run away, even if it would label him as suspicious.

he was not ready to face a policeman . . let alone kai's own fucking sister.

"good thing i flicked off that spider in time," skylor pipped up much louder than before, wiping her hand against the front of her apron. she offered a bubbling laugh, laced with the same hyped up enthusiasm from when she was taking zane's breakfast order a few hours earlier. "it would be gross to see it bite you or something."

zane was utterly confused, eyebrows furrowing in sheer discontent. but as skylor's foot antsily tapped against the ground, he honed back to his senses.

a lie.

she was lying to cover him up.

"thank you," the man immediately caught on, sheepishly nodding his head as another person entered the corner of his vision. "i did not even feel it."

"hello, you two," said other person began cheerfully.

zane forced himself to look up. eyes squinted to form a smile on his lips, the man offered a nod in greeting.

vision washing over the police officer, nya was practically a spitting image of her brother . . or, well—they were both a spitting image of their parents. there was a similar confident pep within the girl's step that eagerly matched her brother's. nya's hair was indeed twisted up into a ponytail, baby hairs blowing in the dense wind to frame her face. zane took a true snapshot mentally—_this is the face to stay away from._

"everything alright over here?" nya asked, a bit too preppy for the situation.

skylor answered first, with no hesitation; zane was able to conclude she indeed truly was one damn good actress. "'course . . i just spotted some nasty spider on my friend's shoulder here. 'nd flicked it off."

"oh!" zane watched nya poke a hand out to him, for the man to shake. tiny badges on her uniform glistened in the light as she moved to do so. "and you are?"

it took a moment for him to react, dawning down that this greeting was nothing but formal. she did not know what he was thinking, and skylor was on his side. there would be nothing to worry about if he just shook nya's hand back and finished the friendly greeting.

so that was exactly what the blond did. "zane," he answered simply, holding back his last name for . . reasons. after their hands intertwined for a solid shake, the man returned his arm by his side. "a friend of skylor's, as she had just mentioned."

the last part was extra, but he felt it necessary—even more to play along with her games. he figured it was the right way to go, because the redhead offered a confident smile in answer.

"so i've been told," nya answered, shifting her weight from foot to foot as if sizing the two others up. the raven haired girl glanced at skylor, playfully tapping the other girl on the shoulder as if they were long time besties. "where'd you meet him at? . . don't look too familiar."

oh, of course—because nya definitely knows _everyone_ in town, zane thought. he knew policemen usually tended to be one with the public, and be friendly to normal civilians . . however zane's father taught him to always lay low and just stick with his own inner circle of friends; to be simple and help when his help is strictly needed of.

boy, how that had changed.

skylor seemed to choke on her words before forming up the next lie. "he always comes over for breakfast," answered the ginger—earning a nod from zane to agree to the semi-made-up story.

"well," nya began, clasping her hands together. the girl took a step back, eyes sweeping over the restaurant. "i wouldn't suggest coming over tomorrow. 'm sure you guys are well aware by now what happened."

yeah, zane was; the gang kai and jay were in had robbed the place. for a moment, zane thought it could have been some of the same people who appeared to follow cole and him in the morning air. that thought made the blond shiver, hands running against his own arms nonchalantly; maybe that plan was already in focus, and cole and him could have messed it up without even rrealizing. ideas of what the day would have been if he was only moments slower rushed in his head and the overthinking took course once more.

maybe him and cole would still be together, though.

no—not _together _. . they were never truly with one another. bad choice of words.

"are you okay?"

"wha—." someone was talking to him and indirectly pulling zane from his thoughts; unfortunately, that someone being nya . . someone who was far too valuable to slip up in front of. "oh, yeah, i am alright."

he felt a hand reassuringly against his arm, holding him in place gently. nya blinked, and as if speaking to a child, continued: "are you sure? . . you look a little pale."

those words made zane nod, and the touch on his arm—the touch against cole's sweatshirt, fell. he swallowed, letting silence wash over the awkward moment before nya clicked her tongue to break it; she took a small step back again, towards chen's restaurant where many other policemen were located.

"i should get going," began the girl, offering a nod in goodbye. her eyes swept to zane, and the man tried not to show how visibly he altered. "you should, too; it's not safe out on the streets today; be glad you got your breakfast in, at least."

because any other day, it would be perfectly okay to walk around like it was nothing. pfft, bullshit. everyone knew, especially zane, that crime was always busy in ninjago.

however, instead of denying the girl's statement and potentially starting any drama, zane simply nodded, vision flickering away from making eye contact. he focused on the ground for a moment, before glancing sheepishly to skylor for help. she only shrugged.

"yeah, i'll be heading home now," zane lied, and his stomach twisted with the fake words. "just . . uh, just wanted to check in." he forced another smile.

"great," muttered nya, turning to the other girl, eyes scanning up from skylor's apron to her face. "and you! . . i needa talk to you for a sec actually, sky. alone, please?"

the redhead's face flushed, and she nodded a few quick times. "of course!" she pipped back, turning to the side. skylor pointed a finger to her restaurant, head tilted. "i gotta finish some stuff inside . . cuz of, y'know—but i can spare a few seconds."

zane offered a half-assed bow before taking a handful of steps back, motioning for the two girls to go ahead and talk with whatever privacy they needed. he could only assume it would be about more business stuff—about the robbery and some inner details. zane did not care as much as he thought he should.

nya comfortably wrapped a hand around the redhead's shoulder, as the pair began walking back to the front entrance of chen's. and all zane caught, was skylor slipping a look back at him—a thumbs up, and another wink, before they blended in with the crowd

he did not know what it meant either, but he told himself it was a good sign.

letting out a sigh of relief he did not quite realize he was even holding in, the blond smiled to himself; that . . went good? really good, actually. and the hope from earlier began to flicker up again, burning bright. maybe, just maybe—the plan for later tonight would actually work. really, all he had to do was act up a believable story to lie over again, right? . . and the rest would fall into place from the others.

except zane had no idea if cole would make an appearance again . . because as much as the blond hoped the black clad would, everyone knew hope will only take them so far.

walking down the block, away from chen's famous noodle house, zane checked the time once more from his phone. almost four pm; still a lot of time, which only made the man more antsy and nervous. with the mobile device in his hands, he clicked open his direct messages—disappointed to truly see that nobody in the recent attacking group chat had even spoken since.

zane had no intention of going home, however—for he was worried about somehow being followed . . and he had better ideas of going to take out a late lunch.

with the obvious choice of chen's out of the picture, and an inevitable meeting at karaoke dokey later tonight, zane wanted something different. and he found his feet taking him to another quick restaurant.

he felt dumb sitting alone after the news of robberies and crime was extra hot. it seemed like all the more reasons someone would go after him—an easy target walking alone. only to add onto that, the man was bubbling with feelings inside—oh, how desperately he wanted to hear his phone's familiar ding to alert there was a text. at last, there was only silence in the air, and thoughts twisting in his head.

hours passed.

zane began making the risky walk to karaoke dokey.

feet shuffling against the dirty ground, the blond walked past the familiar apartment from yesterday. he was unaware whether to feel relief at how dimmed out the window he remembered jumping out from was—because kai's apartment appeared to be pitch black. and zane was left to gingerly assume it was truly because no one was home.

there were no more blaring police sirens. however, down the block, some policemen still lingered around chen's. zane had spotted multiple police cars bluntly driving around the street, simply strolling down the road as if they would come across some real action. the white clad could not help but worry at that; if there were just police lingering around the city, how hard would that make it for the four of them to do what they planned to do?

zane shrugged the negative thought off, fingertips reaching for the door handle of karaoke dokey. music blared from the inside, and he was able to hear it—was able to see the lights flicker, even through the closed windows.

the sky above was dark, stars twinkling without a care in the universe up ahead. zane felt as if having the sun gone and set offered . . mystery to the streets; the reflection off of the almost full moon filling the alleyways. it was such a shame the handful of lampposts scattered around did not supply light to each street—and many construction workers did not care to fix the old, broke bulbs.

night was always beautiful to see in ninjago, as many tall buildings and landscapes shined in the crisp air . . however of course people let the dark soak them up while committing crimes. tonight, zane knew he would be one of those people.

it was 10:26pm when zane julien first stepped inside karaoke dokey.

feet shuffling him to the back of the establishment, the blond had to uncomfortably wiggle past multiple people. he could not help but mumble a '_sorry_!' every now and then, while scooting around. some people danced shirtless . . others sang at the top of their lungs way off key to even sound remotely good.

zane could tell some of them had already had drank one too many sips of alcohol . . but at least they appeared to be having fun.

finally brushing to a back table where zane had spotted the familiar bright red and blue clothing, the blond offered a sheepish smile in greeting. he felt significantly more welcomed standing next to such gang members, albeit the suspicion from earlier—however, it beat getting indirectly grilled by nya.

"hey," greeted the white clad vocally, reaching for another tall stool to wiggle to sit down at the table. he had questions for the two of them alone, but figured it would be best to not throw all the words out immediately.

he also had questions for cole . . but was afraid of the answers.

"hi," answered jay immediately, shuffling in the stool of his own. zane could tell the freckled man was just reaching the high leveled table, even on a tall chair.

kai's expression altered when he looked up from scrolling through different social media apps on his phone—eyes shifting around to scan over zane in what felt like a brief disappointment. "where's cole?"

"he . . had to go do something," zane said, swallowing. "he said he'd be back before we uh, gotta go."

it was just getting easier and easier to _lie_, wasn't it?

"oh," kai blurted, "okay." brown eyes glanced down at the phone within his grasp; fingertips scrolling down to swipe the devices notifications. "why didn't he text that?"

"he was in quite a rush to leave." well—that was not a lie, zane knew. he offered a small, apologetic shrug. he watched kai tap through his phone a bit longer, before feeling it was an invasion of privacy and forced himself to look up.

"hey, uh . . since we're on the topic of leaving," began kai once more. he slipped his phone into his pocket to allow his hands to fold in front of him before the brunet stood up. "blonde, you gotta go, too."

"what?"

"i wouldn't even bother ordering a drink," rephrased the man in red. "apparently lloyd had—or _has_ plans to go out tonight, too. we don't know what for, and if the brat is meeting up with ronin, than yknow—we should stop that . . you should."

"it's barely eleven—." and zane was cut off, the disbelief so promptly within his words as he stood back up. how dare kai scold cole for not texting last minute in the group chat, and then pull this bullshit out from left field.

"yeah dude," kai breathed nonchalantly, shrugging his chair back into place under the table with the kick of his foot. "but the stake is too high to risk the kid getting away."

"don't worry too much!" added jay, now standing from the stool quickly. his back straightened up, eyes curiously peering around the darkened establishment for a moment before walking around the table and reaching for the collar of cole's hoodie around zane. "the gang is around town spiking more crime to lose cops off our trail."

so it _was_ planned after all—one giant mess of tiny distractions.

"wait, hey—now there are cops crawling all over the road, too," zane mumbled, ready to shove jay back and away to get off of him when the ginger clipped a tiny black box underneath the collar, hidden from eyesight. "what . . ?"

"it's a microphone," reassured jay confidently. "i wired it all up, and it connects back to stuff at kai's place—where i'll be during this shitstorm; the back-up, remember?"

"huh," kai mumbled, and zane nodded—assuming the hum was more to himself than anything . . partly because the man in red had glanced down, eyes sparked with thought. "i guess i did not think that one through—hopefully the cops will be too side-tracked to even think about something else big happening."

yeah, hopefully.

zane shrugged the idea off, figuring it best _not_ to focus on everything crashing to hell, and just nodded for what felt like the upteeth time that night. taking a look at the microphone tucked away on cole's sweatshirt, the blond sighed. "why did you tell skylor about what we were doing, kai?" he blurted, eyes going wide at his own sentence.

well . . it sure seemed like a _now or never _type of deal, and zane did not know if talking to lloyd would kill him or not . . so why hold back his curiosity?

"she told you? you talked to her?"

maybe kai did not except that apparent secret to spill, because by the look on the brunet's face, he seemed off his game suddenly. zane could only nod, awaiting an actual answer.

"it just slipped out, i guess." lie . . probably, concluded zane—however he remained quiet for kai to finish. "she's someone we can trust, though, so don't worry about it."

"she told me earlier today that she would offer help if need be," added zane, eyebrows furrowed as he nonchalantly scanned over kai's face to see if the man was truly lying or not.

"see? told you; trustworthy."

zane concluded it was the truth. kai probably did let the words slip, and gingerly had played it off as nothing; maybe the others were just as secretly nervous as zane was inside. and then, against the white clad's better judgement, his weight shifted from side to side as he let kai gently push him back towards the entrance without another word. sweaty bodies and drinking groups of friends hollered to the music, swaying to the overly loud beat. zane was caught in the middle, feeling kai's hand against his back to walk the three of them to the door.

here zane thought he would at least get some time to calm down his inevitable nerves last minute; to go through the plan one more . . and if he was lucky, maybe even chat with cole to—to _fix_ things. and yet he was given nothing.

now outside once again, the white clad shrugged kai off of him with wide eyes. he watched for any possible sort of sympathy from the other two, but came up short. the outside air was much more relaxed and cooler than being cooped up inside however, and that offered zane a bit of relief.

jay nodded briskly, eyes clearly drawn to the hidden microphone. "try not to mess with the tech, dude," he added confidently. "i did a good job wiring it, but ya never know . . and oh—!" he cut himself off, stepping forward and dropping another tiny black piece into zane's hands when the blond held them out. "hook that up onto your ear."

zane raised a skeptical eyebrow, before applying. he twisted the black technology over his ear, already hearing a sudden static. "what is it . . ?"

"an ear piece," deadpanned jay, as if the answer was obvious. "so we can all talk." zane watched the ginger push back some of his auburn hair to show his own ear; a matching set tangled in already. "kai and i both have one, and i have one for cole once he gets here, too, so we can talk and shit. don't worry about where i got them from, though."

_once_ cole gets there. not _if_.

jay grinned, shaking his head to allow his hair to flop back down. "it's like some action video game," mumbled the man in blue proudly before kai stepped in.

"now listen," began the brunet, "all you have to do is keep the kid from slipping out the door or creeping away. it's not hard—just stay casual, and keep a believable story up. we can do the rest as soon as you know who gets here."

_as soon as_ cole gets here. not _if he ever arrives. _

"i'll be around until then—y'know, talking over the mics while waiting." kai's eyes flinched off to the side, as he glanced back into the karaoke club. zane figured would do a little bit more than just talk . . and probably end up drinking a cup or two more than necessary.

zane could only pray the brunet would still be sober enough to stop ronin up close.

zane had just nodded afterwards, fingers wiggling to let out the suppressed emotions. he hoped cole would show up, because he was not sure what would happen if the man was a no show. to say the least, zane felt as if he was already missing the black clad's company.

he shook his head however, to physically try and diminish such thoughts. now was _not_ the time. lucky the earpiece stayed in, and did not seem to wiggle free; wherever jay stole them from must have been a good place—at least zane could only assume they were stolen.

"sounds easy enough," vocalized the blond, much to his own negative ideas. the probability of making it all out alive and ay-okay seemed extremely low—but as stated before, he had hope.

he _only_ had hope now . . even if he was let down before.

zane plastered a reassuring smile on his face, unsure if the display was more for himself or the others. when kai slapped a hand kindly against the white clad's back to show support, zane could not help but flinch under the touch.

"piece'a cake," agreed the man in red. "now go get 'em, champ."

zane stepped away, towards the curbside to begin his inevitable walk to the garmadon's, as jay spoke up: "if something goes wrong—_if_ . . just in case," emphasized the ginger, clinging to kai, "use the mic and tell me!"

"okay," answered zane with another nod, as a car drove quickly down the road next to him. "i will see you guys when this is all over."

jay yelped a '_good luck!'_ and kai offered a salute as zane continued down the street. that was all he saw before the two dipped right back into the club—fingers tangled together. zane could only assume they would end up getting just as frisky with each other as plenty of the others inside kareoke dokey were already.

but zane could not dwell on that thought for long . . because a rush of frisky members of his own from at the top of the building flooded him—ideas of cole . . of how fucking bad the taller man had life going for him.

and the blond had to force a strong inhale to keep any possible sniffling tears from breaking through. because now? . . he was on a mission.

zane had to make the area ready for the others, before the shot was taken.

and if he failed, then they truly had no fucking chance at succeeding.

* * *

**a/n: hi, guys! thank yall sm for the feedback n favorites - it means a lot. as u might have noticed, im tryna update this story abt once a week or so, even tho sometimes its a bit late bc of life getting in the way. anyway, I hope yall have been enjoying this so far, and any comments n follows r appreciated ! stay safe n wash ur hands 3**


	8. fuck you

**a/n: hi hi i apologize for how late this chap is. w all the shit goin on rn lately in 2020, i just wasn't able to sit down n write calmly. anyway! this chap is over 6k words to make up for the extra wait, lmao. any comments n favs r appreciated, as always—n w/o further ado, here's the chap!**

the man's shoes were antsy while tapping against the sidewalk as he progressed through the street. he had a nasty taste within his mouth, and it constantly left him doing a double take through the empty streets. a complete opposite to before, zane did not feel the peaceful feeling draped over these moments. there was no one else by his side except for the darkness—and no hopeful game to play to waste time ahead of him.

there was only the mystery of the night, and an inevitable plan in his head he grew to hate more and more with each second.

car tires continued to ache across the dirty street, even as the later hours dawned down onto the city. if one listened closely, they were sure to hear a hoot or holler, maybe even an inconspicuous crash. ninjago never seemed to sleep, and zane knew that very well . . even more so tonight as there were timed crimes popping up everywhere. it left him paranoid . . and he was peeking behind him just in case someone was following him for some reason.

he could not help but wonder if kai told the other members as to _why_ they were suddenly asked to cause drama.

probably not, right?

after all, it was supposed to be a secret.

but then again, kai had no problem letting skylor know. however that might be a different scenario—because according to everyone else zane talked to, kai and skylor had obviously well-known history together. he just was not sure if it was a good think to know or not; whatever it was, it must not have been too bad, because the two seem like good friends still. and skylor proved personally she was trustworthy for the time being.

achingly loud static pulled zane erruptly out of his thoughts. the blond looked around, an eagerly confused look sprawled across his face as to where the sudden noise was coming from. his thoughts quickly raced with who or what it could be; if he was followed or if someone was watching him only seemed to make the man even more paranoid. he spun around, pausing and looking in circles—only to see absolutely nothing threatening. however, it took him a loopy moment to realize the static was signaling from inside his ear.

"_hey-yo, testing 1, 2, 3—testing . . uh, mama bird to frozone and heatmiser_?"

"_jay . . what the fuck_?"

"_what_!?" jittered the first voice, and zane was able to conclude that the two men he had just previously left behind were talking. "_people _always _use code-names when talking like this_!"

"'_mama bird_'? '_frozone'_?" repeated kai, dumbfounded. "_just . . stop_."

a sigh emitted from the other line of the ear pieces, just before jay continued. the ginger cleared his throat and spoke, this time his voice was less playful. a keyboard seemed to click within the distance background, as if the man was typing. "_anyway, you know where you're goin', right, zane_?"

the blond in question nodded, before noticing the other two could not see him. dumbfounded, he peered down at the hidden microphone tucked within the edge of cole's hoodie, before praying it would function correctly, and vocalized his answer. "of course, i do. it would be quite stupid to not know where the garmadon's live."

saying the words out loud, all alone near the middle of night, were like a slap to the face. this really was happening, was it?

"_okay, good_," jay said, and the clicking keys continued. zane figured the man in blue was most likely stationed at kai's house already—spinning around immaturely in a wheelie chair and glancing at computers filled with some secret information to keep the plan on track; the thought was silly, and it reminded zane of some cliche movie. "_i was just checking to see that this long distance thing would work . . oh, who am i kidding? i designed it; of course it would_."

zane honed out jay's confident laughter to listen to kai's much more serious words instead. and what the brunet spoke up with seemed to make zane's heart drop.

"_cole hasn't gotten to karaoke dokey yet, guys._"

the blond swallowed. it has barely been ten minutes since he left the place; the time on zane's wrist watch had not even peaked 11. surely the still lost noirette would arrive eventually?

_right_?

yet kai's words seemed to be laced with just as much worry that zane's answer had: "he hasn't?" rephrased the blond, licking his lips as if it would keep the fear of losing cole inside.

before he was about to get grilled about potentially lying, jay nonchalantly spoke up once more. "_just text him. 'm sure he'd answer._"

there was silence over the comm, before zane felt a prominent buzz coming from his pocket. the curious side of him told him to ignore it, knowing it would not be the wanted man in question—but he just had to know. slipping the little device from his pocket, zane glanced at the new notifications.

_**we attack after dusk**_

_**10:56 **_— _**kai**__: yo wtf cole where r u_

_**10:56 **_— _**kai**__: zane said u dipped for smth but ur cutting it close now man _

_**10:57 **_— _**kai**__: get ur ass to dokey _

zane felt like he was just pushed under the bus. and not only that, but the vehicle was already moving right at him, with no sign of stopping. it felt like shit. technically, what kai texted was not exactly wrong . . but it definitely was not the full truth.

and it only proved that zane had talked about what had happened briefly, when the blond knew it should stay between the two of them alone.

they kissed.

_twice_.

zane slipped his phone away when no more buzzes rang through. he sighed, not knowing what to say next to the other two hooked up by technology. truly, what even was left to say? oh—'_cole might not ever come back because i kissed him and totally ruined everything.'_

fuck no.

"_i'll tell ya if something pops up on my end," _kai said, and it was then that zane noticed the music playing in the distant background—only proving that the man in red indeed was still at the karaoke bar. "_but i gotta go for now; i look weird as fuck talking to myself in the dark corner of a club._"

"_c'ya_," was jay's response, as the music cut off.

kai had somehow turned off his microphone before zane could offer an end greeting. he was instead met with staticily silence; both through the comms and across the darkly skeptical night. he looked down, at his hands tucked into the pockets of the larger hoodie around his frame. it was a bit off settling to know jay was already set up in his assumed position, while they still had no damn idea where cole was.

"_you're almost there._"

this time around the voice came erruptly, and zane could not help but practically jump. his immaturity with technology, especially this up close, shined through. the blond gasped.

"can you give me a warning or something next time you just talk out of the blue?" asked zane.

"_i'm always gonna be hooked up,_" answered jay with a laugh. "_sorry . . but yeah, i'll try not to talk the whole time—might blow your cover or something._"

when jay phrased it like that, it made zane think he was some spy or cop. the idea sent rushes of adrenaline through his veins. spies and cops were supposed to be good, weren't they? sure, it was a bad analogy, but zane needed to hold onto anything proving what he was assisting in doing was not completely illegal.

taking down a largely wanted criminal had to have some good into it, at least. because . . two wrongs make a right?

"i know i'm almost there," zane admitted, choosing to address the first statement respectively. "and yeah, staying quiet once i do get there would be beneficial . . unless you have something that can not wait."

"_noted_," finished the redhead. a few keyboard clicks echoed repeatedly. "_but_, _hey . . uh, do you know what it was cole left to do exactly_?"

"no."

"_it wasn't something bad, was it_?"

"no."

"_okay. well . . tell me if something comes up, dude_."

zane was not sure if the short sentences as answers were bad—if they might have proved how obvious it was that he was lying. but when the static cut off, and a near silence audio filled the blond's ear, he figured jay was not able to read through the false cover ups . . or did not care enough to even ask.

that was a good sign . . because it gave zane some sparkles of hope that maybe he could continue to come off naturally with lies; that maybe he was just pin-pointing each of his flaws out too much, when other people probably would not even notice.

and while he was physically alone now, coming close to his near destination, the man knew jay was only a click away and . . well, always watching.

the garmadon's house was big.

he could see it so obviously from down the block. the outside lights were still shining on, offering a dull illumination to the front of the home. large white pillars seemed to offer support, keeping the structure up all the while adding to the decor. zane often thought about _why _such high level people would choose to reside in such a dirty town. it was painfully clear that the garmadon's considered themselves high class . . maybe even high_er_ class, if that was a thing—not that zane would know.

and soon blinking up at the large polished door, zane felt way out of his comfort zone more than ever. sure, he felt awkward while talking to the police, but this was a big step up. still, while visiting the home only days earlier to take a couple of paid photos, the atmosphere felt . . different; it felt much more lighter, and less mysterious. because now, the blond knew what was truly aching beyond the house walls.

and it scared him.

what also worried him, was the fact he saw no one else walking along the street on the way here. of course it was late, and people were probably asleep all across town . . but there was always the lingering possibility. a lone target walking down the street seemed like a gold mine for pickpocketers and such. maybe having the well-know gang outside lighting up crime was enough to scare people for real, though, huh?

zane licked his lips, listening to the silence static within his ear from the technological piece from jay. the noise made him pause and take in a breath to at least try and calm down for what was about to take place. zane's blue eyes scanned the area once more; flickering behind him as if someone would be eerily following. then, peeking back at the door's doorbell and squeaky handle, he decided to go original . . and knocked.

his whole body told him to run away before something managed to escalate as the man waited for someone to answer. yet, deep down, his feet felt him stationed in place—not because he was absolutely terrified, and definitely not because he wanted to do this . . but because he knew if he bailed, people would get hurt.

the garmadon's themselves. kai and jay, along with their gang. possibly even zane himself, because there was no way this house did not have cameras outside. but most importantly, _cole_.

and the thought that zane could be a direct cause that hurt the other man, was even more scarier than getting told ronin had somehow succeeded.

zane cleared his throat, hearing soft footsteps grow louder from the door from inside. he knew how unnecessarily big the building was. and for a moment, the blond was worried someone other than lloyd garmadon might open the door. what if it was one of the parents? . . dear god, what if it was some random servant? surely people this rich must have some sort of housekeeping.

the white clad did not know whether to feel relieved or horrified when a familiar mop of blond hair opened the door.

green eyes peered like bullets right past zane's awful attempt at a casual demeanor. zane had paused, nerves running through his already tense body—however, he forced himself to get it together. now, if any, was _not_ the fucking time to crack. he had successfully passed nya's random questions without even thinking too much about it and slid through the lies about cole; how was this any different, right?

"hey, uh—."

"can i help you?" interrupted lloyd.

the innocence feeling zane felt in the other's voice was shocking. if he was told only days earlier that lloyd garmadon was a soon-to-be well planned killer, zane was sure he would have laughed the sentence off. after all, the male standing in front of him here? . . was just a kid; a few years younger, of course, but not legal and definitely not old enough to drink. zane almost felt bad for being so scared over a kid.

there were still visible traces of baby fat on lloyd's cheeks. his hair was a mess, with blond strands poking out this way and that. it gave off a similar resemblance to someone who had just woke up; perhaps the boy had napped earlier to better prepare for the inevitable. a loose green hoodie draped across lloyd's shoulders. one of his hands was tucked into a back pocket of his jeans; the other still gripping the door's handle.

zane reminded himself to be as professional as before, and slid his own hands out of cole's sweatshirt pockets. his mouth hesitantly opened to reply—because yes: lloyd absolutely could help him, but the boy had cut him off again instead.

"wait . . " began lloyd, head tilted eerily to the side as he scanned zane's movements. "don't i know you or something?"

"i would hope so," answered the man back, a gingerly hint of laughter in his voice to act natural. he did not mean to come off rude, because of course the son of such famous billionaires would get greeted by many people on a daily basis. not to mention, too much confidence always came out to seem like a highly suspicious attitude to have. but zane felt the tension loosen within himself, and that was a good sign. "i was here a few days ago; i was the fellow who took you and your lovely family photos."

"oh—," hummed lloyd, just as any usual teenager would. "yeah, i do remember you." it was then that zane realized the boy's foot was nervously tapping against the ground.

thoughts of cole doing the same movement flooded back unwillingly in a sudden rush. the kiss. the noirette's hand tangled in zane's hair. _fuck_—the blissful moments before their lips collided . . and the darkened times after. it was such a generic movement many people did, but seeing it here—watching the kid he was told was bad, doing it, felt . . off-setting.

zane swallowed. it was all too much.

when cole's foot stopped tapping, zane was met with happiness. and then his world began to fall apart. he could only pray the same thing would not happen this time around—that the mood would continue to be casual until he was miles away, safe and sound . . laughing with cole about everything.

". . why're you back here? did something happen?"

by the tone of lloyd's voice, zane had a feeling that was not the first time he had said those words . . which made zane think he had blanked out for a shortly suspicious moment. now was not the time to start getting lost on the thought of cole.

"is it alright if i come inside?" asked the white clad instead—answering the question with a question.

and when lloyd's whole demeanor shifted, shivers ran down zane's spine.

_that was the wrong thing to ask . . this was a bad idea. _

"what?" quickly asked the boy, eyebrows squinting.

zane watched for a moment, studying the way lloyd seemed to move. it was obvious he was ansty as well, with the way his fingers curled around the door and his foot tapped against the ground . . like he had somewhere else to be.

the white clad swallowed again nervously. "i am—i'm afraid when i was here a few days ago, i accidentally left a piece of valuable equipment that i need back, for future photos."

he went stiff as the boy's eyes scanned over him skeptically once more. lloyd sighed, his eyes bluntly rolling in a display of his displeasure, before he took a step back. zane's eyes followed right past the boy into the house's semi-familiar interior.

"let's make it quick."

and zane did not wait any longer before shuffling inside. he had to bite his tongue to keep a sigh of relief peeking through his lips. his hands absently found their way back into the hoodie pockets as lloyd shut the door immediately behind him. zane tried not to jump at the unnecessarily loud impact, worried that the boy in green could very well kick him out and cause harm.

he was about to ask to be led politely around the house, to each different room they visited previously, to see if the made-up missing piece of equipment would be there, when lloyd spoke up first: "so why did you come over so . . late?"

"i forgot," zane lied in explanation. he turned around to face the boy, and offered a sympathetic shrug to try and ease the painful lie. "normally i do not misplace my stuff. and i spent the day looking at . . other places."

"right," lloyd mumbled with a bored nod. "well, whatever; just follow me and keep quiet; people are asleep."

and then zane fell silent.

a small relief washed over him this time as he realized he did not have to continue to lie right off the bat. lloyd, with a turn gesture of his head, began to lead the blond down the hallways—and of course zane followed. each room seemed to be bigger than the last, covered with more expensive wallpaper and rich carpets. the thought that maybe zane could help more if he ran off and tried to look for actual, hard evidence, popped into his head . . but only for a split second.

because thinking more in depth about that idea, all the outcomes could quite possibly end with him dead.

when lloyd pushed open a door within the main hallway, zane peeked inside. it was dark before lloyd nonchalantly switched on the lights—allowing the room to look a lot more familiar than the others they passed. and when the blond boy waved a hand towards the room, zane felt there was no other choice but to enter. so he did. eyes scanning around, he easily picked out the couch shuffled against one of the walls; that was the couch he remembered seating the family on.

"this is the room we were in," said lloyd, proving zane to be correct in the way that he definitely was inside this specific room before. he watched the boy in green point out a few more prominent areas, before shrugging his arms and reclosing the door to keep them both inside. "more specifically in these spots, but i'm sure you remember that, huh?"

zane nodded, turning to awkwardly peek around. "thank you."

"so . . what exactly are you looking for again?"

uh, a lie. lie. come on, _lie_. just say something!

"a pin."

_fuck_, not that much of a lie. god only knows finding a pin in this damn house would be impossible—let alone any possible reasonings as to why he had a random pin on him.

clearing his throat, zane turned towards lloyd. he tried to mentially scribble that mistake off so it was not as obvious the man was lying. "i mean, it's more of a lock," the blond corrected himself. his hands hooked around each other, moving up and down indirectly before twisting. it was supposed to be a gesture for what the actual piece would do—because zane did know what he was talking about when it came to equipment. "it functions to hold the top of my camera stand in place; all together so nothing is loose and risks falling and breaking."

"oh, okay," hummed the boy in green, obviously lost . . or he did not care. zane wasn't sure. "so it's like a bolt?"

"in simple terms, yes," answered the white clad.

"and you said you looked for it in other spots first?"

zane noddd, turning around to hide his face . . and so he could gingerly continue to fake search for it. "i did, hoping i would not have you bother you guys. i understand how busy you must be."

there was a pause, and for a moment zane was unsure whether it was a good sign or not. he debated over his own words; if the sentences were too openly obvious he knew what was going on. out of the corner of zane's eye however, he was able to spot lloyd just simply sitting on the couch. the white clad blinked, focusing his attention back onto some tables placed throughout the room, as if the piece of needed equipment had rolled back there.

"why don't you just buy a new one?"

damn, what the hell was with all these questions? for someone who obviously had better places to be, lloyd sure seemed more interested and leveled headed than zane ever imagined. not to mention lloyd was not nearly even trying to help find this missing piece; he was just sitting down as if he was just invited to a tea party.

wait . . do rich people actually have private tea parties? zane did not quite know.

"it's quite rare, and having one that matches my stand might be tricky to deal with," answered zane once more. he was truly not lying about that—for his camera set-up indeed was not cheap; having to replace one part, however, could have been easily arranged.

it was not like lloyd knew that, though.

"uh-huh," hummed the boy in green.

zane was not so sure if lloyd was going to ask something else, because he had gasped unintentionally. the man in white felt a buzz once more originating from his pocket—and his thoughts immediately washed back to cole. surely if it was really the noirette, then he would say something across the comms, right? . . or jay would at least.

"what is it?" questioned lloyd after zane's sudden inhale. "did ya find it?"

he knew it would be pathetic to try and play off the obvious change in mood, so he went and did what his gut told him to: he told the truth, and brought out his phone. "i just received a text message from a friend," zane admitted, trying his best to hide his lips from curling into a bright smile at the words sitting in his notification center.

_**we attack after dusk**_

_**11:23 **_— _**cole**__: sry btw_

_**11:23**_ — _**cole**__: me n kai r almsot the garms now tho_

holy fucking shit.

zane could not help but feel slightly angry at those partly misspelled words—that cole was already with kai now, and on their way over. then again, that was the assumed plan . . and zane told jay not to interrupt him, albeit it was absolutely necessary. so, in reality, it was all going as planned now, right?

right.

and zane was pleased at the fact cole was not only okay, but also still on board with this shity plan. however, the spelling errors and cheap abbreviations made him worry if the black clad was already running or unsafe. fsm only knows the noirette would definitely do something stupid while texting.

yet maybe if the white clad was not smiling sheepishly at his phone screen, he would have been able to see lloyd raise a skeptical brow at the situation. zane maybe would have noticed how lloyd's leg had eerily stopped bouncing up and down "what does it say?" asked the boy.

"it's good news," bluntly muttered zane, debating on typing back a reply. he decided against it at the last minute, because he did not want to come off clingy—or rude, to lloyd, for texting while he was supposed to be looking for some made up lock.

so he tucked his phone back into his pocket, offered lloyd a matching smile, and then turned back to the room and continued searching.

zane felt joyful bubbles shock through his body. the serotonin level was through the roof; he just could not wipe that smile away.

cole was okay. cole was fine. and he was already on his way over.

lloyd cleared his throat. "are you sure you used that specific camera stand here?"

zane paused, a wave of unease suddenly washing over him at how lloyd quickly continued his stream of questions. with hesitation, he felt his shoulders shrug, before turning and facing the other male in the room; lloyd was still nonchalantly sitting on the couch without a care, elbows on his knees with his head leaning on his hands—the position one would most definitely sit in when completely interested in a conversation . . which was weird.

maybe lloyd was lonely all locked up in this beautiful, large home—perhaps such a normal conversation about everyday life was strange to the boy.

"i believe so," answered zane after a moment, thoughts still lingering heavily with cole.

"really?" lloyd hummed.

with _cole_.

cole brought zane happy thoughts and allowed butterflies to swarm within his stomach. cole had run off and was now dashing right back, which only seemed to fuel zane's bubbly feeling. the plan would succeed and then the blond could truly suck up his doubt and just tell cole how he really, truly feels.

because, _fuck_—he had fallen head over heels . . but why the hell did zane fell so out of place within the garmadon's house now?

if zane did not feel like he was under harsh eyes being watched by lloyd, he was suddenly sure that he would have physically shivered. something felt wrong—felt out of place. he wanted to break eye contact with the boy again, but realized that could qualify to be somewhat suspicious. so he just nodded in reply, trying to snap desperately out of his daring thoughts.

"because i believe when you came here only a few days ago, didn't you take the photos by hand—without a camera stand?"

zane's eyes drew wide.

and lloyd stood up slowly.

the man in white drew a hand to his chin, trying his best to play the shock washing through his body as if thinking. he knew deep down he had messed up big time. another glance at his wrist proved the time to be passed 11:30pm now; hopefully late enough to have the other two men wiggling inside by now.

because those lovely thoughts have just been thrown out the window and crushed.

zane realized while his white lies were uttered in a desperation to avoid suspicion, he had so stupidly forgotten the basics of what he did only days earlier. and then thoughts of cole only continued to beat the dead horse.

god damn.

the white clad cleared his throat, blinking away from lloyd to regather his thoughts. "perhaps i have mixed up some of my photoshoots," he mumbled with a nervous laugh, body turning to the side in defense as if it would shelter him. it was just another lousy lie—another excuse, but he was panicking inside and any previously well constructed thoughts diminished.

lloyd was now standing only a few feet away . . and zane was sure the layer of embarrassment was a visible crimson in his face. he did not want to think of how close the boy's breath was to the now standing up hairs on his body—he did not want to look at those deep green, threatening eyes. now would be a really good time for something to happen _outside_ of this room for a distraction.

"maybe," repeated lloyd eerily. the boy glanced down, at his chipped fingernails; he most likely had bitten at them. but when the boy looked up, his eyes once again were like painful daggers staring at zane—and he felt compelled to make eye contact back. the male in green shrugged. "or maybe not."

the smirk on lloyd's face made zane visibly cringe. it looked as if the boy was enjoying this.

"i do not know what you are suggesting here," answered zane; he liked to think his voice was slowly gaining back the false confidence, because it was better than nothing. the white clad then did not hesitate to take a step back, moving around the blond boy and towards the door. the extra space between the two automatically felt like a blessing.

lloyd shrugged, hands nonchalantly shoving into his hoodie pockets. "i think you know," he mumbled, lips still twisted into a smile. ". . or should i ask the people in your ear?"

and just like that, the shock made its way back into zane's face. all the bubbled up confusion and doubt crashed onto him in a painful moment, and he knew he would end up dead from this situation. he was a goner, and it was only a matter of time before the other three were next. of fucking course lloyd took notice of the earpiece; it was not like it was well covered by the short blond hair. and it definitely was not zane's strong suit—especially when he was using the earpiece right outside of the garmadon's home.

zane was hopeless for the second time today.

he took another cautious step back away from lloyd. the static within the white clad's ear became undyingly prominent, and he debated just pulling the additional pieces out and throwing them on the ground in a bitter rage . . yeah, because getting rid of the only thing freely connecting him from the people he trusted was a _great_ idea.

but zane still had his phone.

lloyd's arms crossed over his chest, and his head cocked to the side. "how about you tell me what that message was _really_ about, and maybe i'll think about letting you out."

"no."

"i don't have all day."

"i do."

when zane once more took a handful of steps back, he was able to find purchase against the door handle. back against the sleek wall, he grabbed the twistable handle and pulled . . and yanked—but nothing even dared to budge. when the blond looked back over at lloyd, the boy was still smiling.

"you know, for having so much time, you sure seem to be in a rush," noted the boy, hands dropping atop his hips. lloyd's weight shifted to the side.

zane desperately wanted to try and run, but the door was locked. so once again, he was left with his next best choice: to try and reason with the boy for time. "i know what you're planning to do," blurted zane, and all lloyd did was roll his eyes. "and i know, that you are well aware of the possible consequences; you are not stupid, lloyd . . and you don't have to do this."

"actually," lloyd aimlessly began with a shrug. "i do. but hey, amuse me: 'there anything else you think you know?"

zane swallowed, about to shake his head _no_ when a better thought dawned down. he was positive that denying that statement would only allow lloyd to break out and continue with the depressing plan—and the white clad had to stop that at all costs. "yeah," he lied, licking his lips nervously.

lloyd's head tilted to the other side suspiciously, as if questioning that statement. zane was going to continue on with made-up reasons, before he noticed the shiny item sliding out of the green hoodie. his brain immediately racked the worst possible scenarios; it was a gun, and this was definitely the end of the line.

"chill out," cooed lloyd—zane was sure the fear was obliviously scribbled on his face. "god, you're so dramatic."

it was only a phone.

just a normal phone. every teenager had a phone; it was okay.

as zane seemed to inhale deep breaths of relief, lloyd stared amusingly; first at the man, and then down at the device within his hands.

"what do you know then, julien?"

"i know you're scared," answered zane. for a moment he was unsure if those words were more about himself, and by the confusion on lloyd's face as well, he probably thought the same thing. "you don't have to be scared."

"i'm not."

zane's eyes scanned the area once more; there was a window by the far wall he could probably break through if need be. "your future . ." his voice grew smaller, mouth searching for the right words. "i'm sure people have it all planned out, right? . . such big expectations."

when lloyd looked up, eyebrows furrowed, zane knew he had struck a chord. but the boy shook his head and tried to deny it. "this is boring already," sighed lloyd, fingers dancing across the screen within his hands.

"what're you doing?"

"calling someone." lloyd winked. "don't worry . . it'll be good news—for me, at least."

"who're you calling?"

"the police," admitted the boy with a deceiving smirk. his hand twisted, arm ready to put the phone by his ear. "so i can tell them some man broke into my house and threatened me and my family."

the cops.

that meant nya—and . . and the plan would be busted. people would die.

zane dove forward, tackling lloyd down to the ground without a second thought.

he was not even sure what had washed over him to do such a thing, but he did not exactly mind either. violence was never the answer, zane knew this. he was also well aware if he stood still and did nothing, then lloyd would hurt many people and get exactly what he wanted.

he would hurt zane. and cole.

the white clad knew that was definitely not allowed to happen on his watch.

a yell broke through the silence, and it took a moment for zane to realize it was coming from his own mouth. both males dropped to the ground immediately, shifting back due to the force and painfully colliding with the expensive table from earlier. zane heard something scatter across the ground, and he thankfully registered it as lloyd's phone.

the boy below zane did not yell; instead, he more or less gritted his teeth and huffed.

"i can't let you do that," zane muttered, trying his best to stand up without hurting lloyd anymore than he absolutely had to.

"fuck you."

and then zane felt pain . . a hell of a lot of it.

it spiraled through his wrist right to his core. his eyes forcefully blinked close as if it would help diminish the sharp pains. however, it did not; and lloyd only seemed to enjoy it. when the blond man's senses came back well enough to see why he had yelped, zane was already shoved off and to the side—holding his hands close to his chest.

lloyd had dug his fingernails into the veins on his wrists, and was already shuffling back up. zane sheepishly watched from the ground as the boy pushed his hair back with a satisfied pop. he cringed at lloyd's grin.

"you should have quit while you were ahead," spat the blond boy, eyes squinting down at the man. he licked his lips before shuffling around to the door, slipping keys out of his back pocket to unlock it.

but by the type zane managed to rise as well, the boy had already slipped out the door and down the hall.

and then the building began to shake.


End file.
